Clayton, Dubilier & Rice to acquire Kalle

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has announced that its managed funds will acquire Kalle, an industrial manufacturer of artificial casings for the meat processing industry

The details of the transaction have not been revealed.

Kalle manufactures and supplies casings for the protein-processing industry, which includes pork, beef and poultry. It has operations in nine countries and generated 2015 revenues of more than €281m from customers in 100 countries.

Last year, the company produced more than 850 million metres of casings for a wide range of meat, poultry and other protein products.

It is a leading player in the value-added and viscose sausage casings sectors, as well as polymer casings.

CD&R partner Sonja Terraneo said: "Our investment model is based on helping businesses grow profitably.

"We have been following Kalle’s progress for many years and look forward to working with Kalle’s talented management and employees to continue its strong sales and profit growth and to make the company an even more valuable enterprise over the long term."

CD&R partner and former Unilever executive board member Vindi Banga will assume the role of chairman of Kalle following the completion of the transaction.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the first half of this year.

Banga added: "Kalle is a proven innovator with a highly differentiated offering to customers which improves product quality and production processes. This is particularly apparent in the value-added casings segment where Kalle pioneered the category and is the global leader today.

"We believe Kalle is well-positioned to capitalise on its growth momentum, strong product mix and exceptional R&D capabilities to further penetrate the global market."

Bank of Ireland, ING, UniCredit, BNP, HSBC, SG, CACIB, SMBC and Oaktree will provide debt financing for the deal.

Freshfields and Debevoise & Plimpton served as legal advisers and PwC and William Blair acted as financial advisers to CD&R.