Envases Soplados (ENSO), a Spanish producer of PET bottles that is backed by private equity firm GED Capital, has acquired Portuguese company Espaçoplas Indústria e Comercializaçao de Plásticos, SA (EPLAS).Founded in 2002 and located in Marinha Grande (Portugal), EPLAS is a producer of PET bottles for the food, cosmetic, pharmaceuticals and chemicals markets. The company owns a state-of-the-art production facility built in 2018 and strategically located between Lisbon and Oporto.
EPLAS offers a wide range of formats and tailor-made solutions for its major customers in Portugal, but also in other European markets such as France, Netherlands and the UK.
In January 2018, GED Capital acquired a majority stake in ENSO. Located in Andújar (Jaén), ENSO is the Spanish leader in the production of customized PET containers for the food sector, excluding beverages. Its containers manufactured with blow molding technology are mainly aimed to the edible oil sector (narrow neck containers), honey, coffee, spices, cookies and pickles (wide neck containers). ENSO’s successful business model is based on the production of short high-quality batches.
In order to satisfy customers’ increasing demand regarding environmental-friendly solutions, ENSO adapted its facilities and production processes and is currently producing bottles based on recycled raw materials (rPET). In 2019, the company built a new warehouse with 14.000 sqm.
During GED’s holding period the company has almost doubled its sales from €22m up to €40m, thanks to both organic and inorganic growth. This is because the company is constantly launching new formats and developing new solutions for its customers. Furthermore, ENSO has made 3 bolt-on acquisitions since GED invested in the company in January 2018: Envases Plásticos Alimenticios Iberia and Plásticos Jaen in Spain and EPLAS in Portugal.
ENSO’s CEO Eugenio Real commented: “The acquisition of EPLAS represents a unique opportunity to enter the Portuguese market and additionally cover the Spain’s northwestern region. The combination of both companies will enable significant synergies thanks to the variety of formats and end-sectors of EPLAS and ENSO’s unparalleled industry know-how”.
Enrique Centelles Satrústegui, Managing Partner of GED, stated: “ENSO is a prime example of GED’s classical buy&build investment strategy, where we invest in lower mid-market companies to turn them into Iberian relevant players through sector consolidation and internationalisation. With this acquisition ENSO strengthens its position as a leading Iberian player that has production facilities both in Spain and Portugal. Our plan entails to continue supporting the expansion of the bsuiness via organic and inorganic growth.”
