One51 eyes €600m IPO as Capvest talks end

PLASTICS group One51 is ploughing ahead with plans for a €600m-plus stock market flotation after takeover discussions with private equity group Capvest were terminated.

One51 said it will seek approval next month via an extraordinary general meeting to proceed with its initial public offering (IPO) by the end of 2018.

“One51 is now focused on the next phase of its strategy – having the appropriate capital structure and access to funding to allow One51 to develop and grow, organically and by acquisition, its plastics business,” One51 chairman Hugh McCutcheon told shareholders in a circular.

A planned capital reorganisation will also see Canadian investment giant Caisse de depot et placement de Quebec (CDPQ) boost its stake in One51 from just under 26.5pc to 35.74pc prior to an IPO.

One51 is also planning to change the group name to IPL Plastics, after its majority-owned North American plastics subsidiary.

In a statement to shareholders, One51 said it intends to proceed with its stock market flotation “should market and other conditions permit”.

The company is likely to seek a dual listing in Dublin and Toronto.

One51 also intends to replace and refinance the its existing two, ringfenced, syndicated, IPL and non-IPL, banking fa- cilities with a single group-wide €400m banking facility.

It also confirmed the termination of talks with London-based Capvest.

The UK private equity group, headed by Seamus Fitzpatrick, made an indicative and conditional offer of €2.50 per share for One51 last month. The offer valued One51 at just over €400m.

But the capital restructuring planned for One51 and IPL, in which One51 has a 67pc stake, would likely have meant the final bill for Capvest could have been as much as €181m higher.

The remaining 33pc of IPL is owned by CDPQ and Fonds de Solidarite (FSTQ). CPDQ’s stake in IPL is 22.2pc.

One51 acquired its stake in IPL in 2015 for €201m. Earlier this year, billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond sold his 23pc stake in One51 to CDPQ .

The restructuring planned by One51 will see CDPQ and FSTQ swap their combined 33pc holding in IPL for a total 22pc additional holding in One51.

One51 confirmed yesterday that the capital restructuring of IPL and One51 will proceed subject to approval at next month’s EGM. “IPL’s current capital structure inhibits One51 in its ability to pursue an IPO and listing,” it noted.

CDPQ and FSTQ have already agreed to back the planned capital restructuring at the upcoming EGM.

“The board has not, at this time, definitively determined to proceed with an IPO and listing,” added One51.