HERA : Herambiente acquires Aliplast

The company based in Ospedaletto di Istrana (Treviso), a national centre of excellence in plastic recycling, joins the Hera Group, which thus confirms its position as one of the main players in Italy in recycling and the development of the circular economy.

Herambiente, a Hera Group company and national leader in waste treatment and recovery, signed a binding agreement with Aligroup S.r.l. for the acquisition of the Aliplast Group, a national leader in the segment of plastic waste collection, recycling and regeneration, with an integrated process that transforms waste into products available for reuse.

This transaction regards the acquisition of Aliplast shares through a process entailing the acquisition of 40% in the course of the current year, an additional 40% by the end of March 2018 and the remaining 20% by the end of June 2022. The transaction's enterprise value amounts to roughly Euro 100 million and implies an EV/Ebitda multiple of around 6.5x, with no dilutive effects for Hera shareholders.

The price also includes an additional component in favour of Aligroup S.r.l. in the form of an earn-out when specific incremental Ebitda level results are achieved.

The performance of the agreement is subject to the conditions typically applied in analogous transactions and in particular obtaining the authorisation or consent to the acquisition from the Italian Antitrust Authority.

The Aliplast Group, which processes more than 80,000 tonnes of plastic materials every year, is expected to achieve turnover exceeding Euro 100 million and EBITDA of more than Euro 15 million in 2016.

This important transaction represents a further step in the process initiated some time ago for the transition from disposal towards recycling and recovery, with a view to optimising resource usage. It is part of the ongoing process of expanding the corporate scope launched by the Hera Group several years ago and is in line with the geographical expansion and integration strategy.

With this transaction, which is complementary to those completed in 2015 regarding Waste Recycling (Tuscany) and the environmental assets of Geo Nova (Treviso), Herambiente is further expanding its portfolio of industrial customers. At the same time, it has enriched its commercial offering with a unique, distinctive element capable of accelerating and facilitating the achievement of the 2020 sustainability objectives. Therefore, Herambiente has established itself as a reliable partner with expertise in the management of all industrial waste, capable of proposing efficient solutions with a complete set of services and processes aimed at creating value.

Founded by Roberto Alibardi in 1982, Aliplast is a national centre of excellence, and today is the leader in the collection and recycling of plastic industrial waste and the production of regenerated polymers. It was the first company in Italy to achieve full integration throughout the entire plastic life cycle: from waste management services and the collection of industrial scrap to the production and sale in the market of goods and packaging materials manufactured from plastic recycled in house.
It has more than 300 employees working in five plants in Italy and three abroad (Spain, France and Poland). Its head office is located in Ospedaletto di Istrana (Treviso). Its main customers include the largest Italian food & beverage, home furnishings and ceramics brands.

For this transaction, the Hera Group engaged Studio Grimaldi for legal aspects and Lazard for financial aspects, while the Aligroup Group received support from Special Affairs, through partner Domenico Greco, acting as business and financial advisor for the transaction, and Allen&Overy for legal matters.

'Aside from further strengthening the Group's scope, this transaction joins the many other initiatives that Hera is implementing to promote the circular economy', noted Tomaso Tommasi di Vignano, Executive Chairman of the Hera Group. 'We have already reached some of the important strategic objectives for 2025 and 2030 established by the European Union and, as we intend to continue on this path, we believe it is important to integrate businesses capable of achieving levels of efficiency and excellence that can meet the challenges that lie ahead of us. Aliplast meets these requirements perfectly, and we are certain that it will be able to make its own original contribution, also and especially in terms of the drive towards innovation'.

'Aliplast has developed over the years thanks to the quality and competitiveness of its products, and I believe that its integration with a waste management services leader such as the Hera Group can provide additional benefits for our customers as well', explained Roberto Alibardi, Director and principal shareholder of Aliplast. 'We have shared the Business Plan with the new shareholder and we have the same outlook regarding strategic development policies, so it was natural for us to remain in the company as a manager in the coming years'.