Private equity funds Carlyle Group L.P. and three other bidders will make binding offers in the week commencing 15 January 2007 to buy Desjonqueres, the perfume bottle maker being sold by French glass…
Private equity funds Carlyle Group L.P. and three other bidders will make binding offers in the week commencing 15 January 2007 to buy Desjonqueres, the perfume bottle maker being sold by French glass giant Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA, several well-placed sources were reported as saying The bids will value the unit at around EUR 600 million, including debt, based on EBITDA of about EUR 90 million, the sources said. As well as Carlyle, French private equity funds PAI Partners and LBO France will likely bid, in addition to a consortium formed by French fund Sagard and UK fund Electra Partners, according to the sources. French bank BNP Paribas is advising Saint-Gobain on the sale; binding offers must be sent by 18 January 2007. Other candidates, including UK private equity group 3i Group and Indian glass manufacturer Gujarat Glass, a unit of Indian firm Piramal Industries, have dropped out along the way, the sources said. Desjonqueres, which registered sales of around EUR 550 million in 2005, with plants in France, Germany, Spain, the USA, Brazil, China and Russia, is a turnaround story, the sources said, positioned in relatively low-growth, difficult end markets, but with substantial cost-savings and growth potential. French industrial conglomerate Saint Gobain announced in September 2006 it would consider strategic options for its unit.