Completion of sale of Plastics division
Further to the announcement of 20 February 2020, DS Smith is pleased to confirm that completion of the sale of DS Smith’s Plastics division to Olympus Partners and its affiliate Liqui-Box Holdings has now taken place.
The net cash proceeds of approximately £400 million, after taxation, transaction adjustments and expenses, will be used to reduce financial gearing in line with our medium-term target of net debt / EBITDA at or below 2.0x.
We are delighted to have completed the sale of our Plastics division. The transaction is attractive, both financially and strategically, for DS Smith as we reinforce our position as a leader in sustainable fibre-based packaging. I would like to thank our Plastics colleagues for all their hard work and wish them all the best with Olympus and Liqui-Box.
— Miles Roberts, Group Chief Executive at DS Smith
Cautionary statement - This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the operations, performance and financial condition of the Group. By their nature, these statements involve uncertainty since future events and circumstances can cause results and developments to differ materially from those anticipated. The forward-looking statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of this announcement and DS Smith plc undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Nothing in this trading statement should be construed as a profit forecast.