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The race to acquire Piramal Glass is heading to a finish with Blackstone offering $1 billion for Asia’s largest specialty glass player. Global private equity (PE) firm Bain Capital had also expressed interest in acquiring Piramal Glass but its bid was for around $800 million, according to source aware of the discussions.
Talks had been going on with multiple players since July but Piramal was looking for a deal that values the company close to $1 billion.
Piramal Glass Pvt Ltd is a specialist in the design, production and decoration of glass packaging for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and perfumery, and specialty food and beverage.
It has a capacity of 1,475 tonnes per day, with 12 furnaces and 65 production lines. It has offices and warehousing facilities in France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, the US, the UAE, the UK, China and Sri Lanka, apart from India.
The Piramal group is looking to sell the company as part of its strategy to exit non-core businesses and focus on its financial services arm. In June, it agreed to sell 20 per cent in Piramal Pharma to PE firm Carlyle Group Inc for $490 million.
Other bidders
In September, Bloomberg reported that Partners Group Holding AG and Blackstone were among the other bidders.
“There has been heightened interest for Piramal Glass but the issue was the valuation. Bidders were offering 800-900 million. Bain’s entry into the race may have helped Piramal get a deal closer to $1 billion,” said another source.
According to a Bloomberg report, Blackstone is in talks with banks for about a $400 million, five-year loan to fund the deal which is expected to be announced in the next few weeks.
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