Date
10.23.23
One Equity Partners Agrees to Sell Walki to Japan's Oji Group
*Firm Supported Walki’s Sustainability Initiatives Over Five Years of Ownership *
One Equity Partners (“OEP”) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell** Walki Holding Oy** (“Walki” or the “Company”), a pan-European supplier of sustainable and high-performing packaging and engineered materials solutions, to Oji Holdings Corporation (“Oji Group”), a Japanese paper products technology company.
Founded in 1930 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, Walki is a specialty packaging materials manufacturer, offering consumer and industrial packaging for food and specialty consumer products, as well as engineered materials, such as insulation and fire-retardant facings, sustainable membranes, and protective clothing applications. The Company has 17 production facilities worldwide and employs more than 1,700 people. OEP's acquisition of Walki closed in July 2018.
“We are humbled by Walki’s performance under our ownership and were pleased to help the business execute on a transformative business expansion strategy with sustainability at its core,” said Marc Lindhorst, Managing Director, One Equity Partners. “We collaborated with management to drive transformative growth opportunities in the packaging and engineered materials end markets while supporting the development of manufacturing methods with reduced adverse environmental effects.”
During OEP’s ownership, Walki saw revenue growth of over 125% and made significant investments in long-term environmental sustainability. Investments included the development of alternative materials and production methods to give customers the flexibility to choose the most appropriate packaging solution to mitigate environmental impact. Walki completed seven acquisitions over OEP’s hold period, including that of Plasbel Plásticos in 2021, to leverage its expertise in producing recycled and compostable packaging and support significant expansion of the Valkeakoski facility in Finland.
“One Equity Partners was a first-rate partner to our business over the last five years,” said Leif Frilund, CEO of Walki. “OEP’s expertise in specialty manufacturing businesses like ours helped us to execute our sustainability strategy while continuing to grow the business. With their support, we have proven that consistent corporate growth and business development do not have to be mutually exclusive.”
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About One Equity Partners
One Equity Partners (“OEP”) is a middle market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare, and technology sectors in North America and Europe. The firm seeks to build market-leading companies by identifying and executing transformative business combinations. OEP is a trusted partner with a differentiated investment process, a broad and senior team, and an established track record generating long-term value for its partners. Since 2001, the firm has completed more than 300 transactions worldwide. OEP, founded in 2001, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015. The firm has offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. For more information, please visit www.oneequity.com.
**About Walki **
Walki is an industry leading advanced packaging materials specialist delivering transformative, sustainable solutions to solve the most demanding challenges in the industry. Walki is a growing international group organized in three business areas: Consumer Packaging, Industrial Packaging and Engineered Materials, with operations in twelve different countries. Walki continuously invests in new technologies and materials to enhance its products and its industry environmental sustainability position. Walki has extensive packaging application know-how and in-house innovation capabilities. Our production facilities are located in Finland, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Poland, the UK, and China. To learn more, please visit www.walki.com.
