Verallia acquires Allied Glass for £315M to take UK business international

08 Nov 2022 --- Verallia, the world’s third-largest producer of glass containers for F&B, has acquired 100% of the capital of Allied Glass, a glass packaging company in the spirits market.

The procurement is valued at approximately £315 million (US$360 million) at enterprise value. Sun European Partners joined the acquisition as an affiliate of Allied Glass. 

Verallia is an international company, while Allied Glass’ business focuses on the UK. The companies have announced plans to bring Allied Glass international while maintaining its European stronghold. 

“This acquisition of Allied Glass is fully in line with our strategy, which is to accelerate our investments in key markets while leveraging our industrial, technological and management expertise to generate synergies,” says Patrice Lucas, CEO of Verallia. 

From UK to global
Allied Glass is headquartered in Leeds, with most of its market capacity centered in the UK. The partnership will concentrate on the scotch whisky and gin sectors from its established position in the UK market. 

Allied Glass has created gin and whiskey bottles for companies all across the UK and will expand globally through the help of Verallia. “The group will be present on the UK market. I am confident that this combination will create sustainable value for customers, employees and shareholders,” expresses Lucas. 

Verallia has 32 glass production facilities in 11 countries, meaning Allied Glass will also integrate into an international group. 

"Integrating Allied into an international group, one of the main world leaders in glass manufacturing for food and beverage, is a thrilling challenge for Allied,” says Alan Henderson, CEO of Allied Glass. 

“While our customers in the UK market will continue to benefit from the same quality of service locally, we believe we can further improve our market offering through the support and knowledge of the wider Verallia group.”

Allied Glass in the UK generates over 95% of its revenues, with four furnaces in West Yorkshire. Its revenue of £138 million (US$158 million) in the fiscal year that ended December 2021 with over £150 million (US$172 million) of revenues are estimated for 2022.

Verallia’s past achievements 
In 2019, Verallia reconstructed one of two furnaces in its Burgos plant in Spain, marking a €33 million (US$33 million) investment. Through the reconstruction, the plant’s production capacity increased by 7% to 600 million glass bottles per year. 

The same year, the company launched a new version of its Virtual Glass packaging creation tool. The digital tool enables customers to quickly obtain realistic, high-quality images of their packaging, optimizing time-to-market, saving on costs and facilitating collaboration on packaging designs. 

Edited by Sabine Waldeck 

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