Gresham backs global toothpaste tube manufacturer in £110m deal

Gresham Private Equity, the UK mid market private equity specialist, today announces that it has backed the secondary buy-out of Betts Global Limited (“Betts”) from Permira, Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of Scotland in a deal with a total funding package in excess of £110m.

Betts, a global market leader in manufacturing toothpaste tubes, is supplier to some of the world’s best known companies such as Colgate Palmolive, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. The business produces high quality printed laminate tubes for the oral healthcare market.

Paul Bateman, formerly Group Operations Director for Boots has been appointed Chairman of Betts. Paul brings considerable experience to the current management team having previously been responsible for Boots manufacturing, HR, supply chain and logistics and IT systems. Prior to Boots, Paul worked for Procter & Gamble where he was responsible for Global Home Care Product Supply.

Betts is a long established company that has been manufacturing packaging products for over 150 years. Betts has over 1,300 employees working from 14 sites in eight countries worldwide including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, UK and the USA.

The global market for laminate tubes is growing with demand in emerging markets being particularly strong. The deal will provide Betts with significant capital in order to develop the business with opportunities to expand its capabilities into the personal care market and enter new market segments.

Christian Bruning, Partner at Gresham, who led the deal and has joined the board comments, “The management team at Betts has a real focus on customer service, quality and innovation, and with the additional investment we are bringing, the business is well positioned to support its customers and capitalise on future growth opportunities.”

Paul Bateman, Chairman of Betts, adds “Our business is well poised for further growth in our market. The support and financial firepower of Gresham Private Equity will enable us to invest in our manufacturing facilities. This will provide the resource and capability to continue to meet our customer’s needs and undertake further expansion in the future.”

Anthony Gahan of Wyvern Partners was the lead adviser to Gresham on the transaction. CIT Capital Finance has arranged and underwritten the £75 million of debt facilities.

Tim Morris, Tom Amies and Terence Amako from Ernst and Young advised the vendor.

Christian Bruning, Alastair Mills and Dan Hatcher led the deal from Gresham’s London office. Christian Bruning and James Barbour-Smith of Gresham will join the board.

Recent Gresham industrial product deals include Esterform, Olaer and Altair.