Guala Closures acquires from English Group RPC the global social capital of United Closures and Plastics, Scottish manufacturer of closures specializing in particular in Spirits sector.

An operation that allows the Guala Closures Group to expand its presence in the Scottish market, extending its business activities and processes of innovation and production, and at the same time consolidating its collaboration with the spirits multinationals operating in Scotland and in particular with those of whisky, one of the most important segments in the spirits market.

This transaction allows the Guala Closures Group to expand its footprint in the Scottish market, extending trade opportunities as well as innovation and production processes. The Group will now be able to consolidate its partnerships with the spirits multinationals that operate in Scotland and with whisky producers in particular, which represent one of the most important segments in the spirits market.

The transaction will also speed up the process launched by the Group in 2018 to reorganise its industrial infrastructure with a view to achieving better production efficiency.

“Following the completion of the corporate transactions that involved Guala Closures in 2018 and the strengthening of the capital structure through refinancing, the Group can now focus on its core business, working both to sustain the growth trend in revenues and to improve profitability and, through this, generate cash” emphasises Marco Giovannini, Group CEO.

“This transaction is in line with the Group’s strategy to selectively consolidate the market”

Historic manufacturer specialized in the production of spirits closures, UCP has always supplied Johnnie Walker Red and Black and boasts solid relationships with other important labels such as Buchanan’s, Beefeater and Captain Morgan.

With around 330 employees, UCP is able to produce 1.3 billion pieces per year, of which 1.2 billion closures and 0.1 billion PET bottles, thanks to the Bridge of Allan production plant close to Edinburgh, which is the subject of this transaction.

The process of integrating UCP into Guala Closures will develop focussing on two different objectives: extending the Group’s product range and boosting production capacity in the United Kingdom.

More specifically, this will entail merging the raw materials purchasing departments, aluminium in particular, bringing UCP’s production processes in line with Guala Closures Group best practices and rationalising organisational structures, which will lead to annual cost synergies in excess of GBP 700 thousand, the initial benefits of which, amounting to around GBP 500 thousand, will be enjoyed from 2019.