PEP to list Australian paper maker Asaleo for $642m

Asaleo, formerly known as SCA Hygiene Australasia, is jointly owned by PEP and Swedish paper products company Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA). PEP invested $670 million in the joint venture in 2011, taking a 50% stake.

The listing will see the Australian PE firm exit its stake completely while SCA and company management will hold onto 31.7% and 1.5%, respectively.

Asaleo, which filed an IPO prospectus on Monday, produces toilet paper, kitchen towels, nappies and tampons under brands like Sorbent, Handee, Libra, Purex and Treasures. The company claims that its products appear in 90% of Australian and New Zealand households.

Over the past two years, Asaleo has grown profit by cutting costs and improving its manufacturing capabilities. In 2013, the company reported net sales of A$625 million and an operating profit of A$97 million, according to a release. Money raised in the IPO will be used to pay down debt.

If the listing goes ahead, the IPO will be the biggest of the year after PEP's partial exit from cleaner-caterer Spotless Group via a A$995 million float last month. Last week, PEP also sold Peters Ice Cream to its UK rival R&R Ice Cream for about A$450 million.

Nine private equity-backed IPOs raised a record $2.5 billion between them on the Australian bourse in 2013 with another PEP portfolio company, Veda Advantage, going public last December.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Exits
• Consumer
• Australia
• Consumer
• Exit
• IPO
• manufacturing
• Pacific Equity Partners