Africa

ESPOO, Finland, Aug. 16, 2021 (Press Release) -Huhtamaki has entered into an agreement to acquire Elif Holding A.Ş. (Elif), a major supplier of sustainable flexible packaging to global FMCG brand owners, with operations in Turkey and in Egypt. With this acquisition, Huhtamaki reinforces its position as a leading flexible packaging company in emerging markets and strengthens its existing flexible packaging business in attractive consumer product categories. In line with Huhtamaki’s 2030 growth strategy, the acquisition adds scale in strategic geographies and supports Huhtamaki’s progress towards reaching its high sustainability ambitions. The acquisition also expands Huhtamaki’s technology capabilities and product range, allowing it to serve its customers even better.

Elif is a leader in sustainable flexible packaging in Europe, Middle East and Africa, serving major global brand owners

Founded in 1972, Elif is a trusted long-term partner for major global consumer brand owners in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Similarly to Huhtamaki, sustainability is embedded into Elif’s strategy and it is committed to the three areas of sustainability, environmental, social and governance and to enabling its customers to reach their sustainability goals by providing continuous innovation. Specialized in high-quality sustainable flexible packaging, Elif uses both post-industrial and post-consumer recycled polymers as raw materials. It also has an advanced system of collecting and utilizing production scrap from both its own as well as from customer locations. More than 90% of Elif’s current product portfolio is recyclable and the product portfolio also includes compostable films. In 2020, Elif’s net sales were approximately EUR 163 million (USD 195 million) and it employs approximately 1,500 highly skilled people in its two state-of-the art manufacturing locations in Istanbul, Turkey and Cairo, Egypt.

The acquisition of Elif supports Huhtamaki’s 2030 growth strategy and the achievement of its high sustainability ambitions

The acquisition of Elif supports Huhtamaki’s 2030 growth strategy by leveraging scale, strengthening capabilities and improving competitiveness. The acquisition adds state-of-the-art flexographic printing capability with in-house cliché production to the Huhtamaki technology offering. It expands Huhtamaki’s flexible packaging product range and creates cross-selling opportunities across customers and geographies. With the acquisition, Huhtamaki also expands its flexible packaging manufacturing footprint into Turkey, one of the top future growth countries. With the vast majority of Elif’s product range already recyclable or compostable, the acquisition is also a significant milestone in reaching Huhtamaki’s ambition to have 100% of its products designed to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030.

Charles Héaulmé, President and CEO of Huhtamaki: “I am thrilled to announce this acquisition. With a great portfolio, a strong focus on sustainability and high growth ambitions, Elif is a perfect fit for Huhtamaki. We are impressed by Elif’s focus on its customers with decades of strategic partnerships with blue-chip multinational companies who are leaders in their field and Elif’s strong and capable leadership team. Our 2030 growth strategy is particularly focused on sustainability and competitiveness, which Elif strongly supports. I look forward to working with Elif’s management to continue their success under the new ownership. I am delighted to welcome Elif’s Group CEO Selçuk Yarangűmelioğlu, Elif’s Group CFO and MEA GM Mehmet Çayirezmez, the leadership team and the entire Elif organization to the Huhtamaki family. We are looking forward to build on the existing strong foundations together, to further grow the business and deliver innovative sustainable packaging solutions to current and new customers globally.”

Selçuk Yarangűmelioğlu, CEO of Elif: “We are excited to join Huhtamaki, a company that shares our sustainability and growth vision. Elif has always been a dedicated partner for multinationals with a best-in-class asset base, service and quality. Under new ownership, we will continue to deliver sustainable solutions to our customer base globally, enhance our focus on fast-growing emerging markets, realize synergies through scale and expand our capabilities.”

Huhtamaki will acquire Elif for a cash free debt free purchase price of EUR 412 million (USD 483 million). The business will become part of Huhtamaki’s Flexible Packaging business segment. To support the financing of Huhtamaki’s acquisition of Elif, Huhtamäki Oyj has signed a bridge financing facility of USD 500 million with Citi, who has also acted as an advisor in the transaction. The transaction is subject to the approval of competition authorities in Turkey, and it is expected to be closed after regulatory approval. Both companies will continue to operate on a business-as-usual basis until closing.

About Huhtamaki

Huhtamaki is a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions for consumers around the world, enabling wellbeing and convenience. Our innovative products protect on-the-go and on-the-shelf food and beverages, ensuring hygiene and safety, and help prevent food waste. We embed sustainability in everything we do. We are committed to achieving carbon neutral production and designing all our products to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030.

We are a participant in the UN Global Compact and as of 2020, we received an MSCI ESG Rating of A, on a scale of AAA ─ CCC. To play our part in managing climate change, we have committed to set science-based targets through the Science Based Targets initiative. Huhtamaki has been awarded the Gold medal by EcoVadis for performance in sustainability.

With 100 years of history and a strong Nordic heritage we operate in 36 countries and 82 sites around the world. Our values Care Dare Deliver guide our decisions and help our team of 18,200 employees make a difference where it matters. Our 2020 net sales totaled EUR 3.3 billion. Huhtamaki Group is headquartered in Espoo, Finland and our parent company, Huhtamäki Oyj, is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.

About Elif

Elif is a global benchmark flexible packaging company. In its two world-class plants with state-of-the-art machinery in Istanbul and Cairo, approximately 1,500 employees produce flexible packaging that is used in more than 200 production sites in over 50 countries.

Elif has a turnover of USD 195m and an export ratio of 62 percent in 2020. Elif enables customers to reach their sustainability goals by using more recycled content, bio-based materials, bio-degradable green PE, and fully recyclable HyPEr/PE laminate structures. Elif’s goal, to be achieved by 2025, is to develop packaging that is 100 percent recyclable, reusable, or compostable. Elif is a member of various initiatives and associations that advocate sustainable solutions and a circular economy, including Save Food, CEFLEX, UNGC, and UNICEF.

JOHANNESBURG, July 14, 2021 (Press Release) -The unfortunate incidents of civil unrest, violence and criminal activity which are being widely reported through news channels are also impacting Sappi’s South African operations. Our primary concern is for the safety of our staff and contractors. Therefore, and as a precaution due to transport disruptions impacting raw material supplies, warehousing and customer deliveries, the Sappi Saiccor, Tugela and Stanger Mills in KwaZulu-Natal temporarily ceased production as of Monday 12 July. They will resume once it is safe and practical to do so. Work on the nearly completed Saiccor expansion and upgrade project was suspended as of Friday 9 July. Sappi’s forestry operations are being reviewed on a daily basis. There has been no material damage to any of the plants. Insurance is in place for all assets. Global shipments to customers through the Port of Durban have also been impacted due to limitations in service, logistics and closure of warehouse service providers.

“Sappi is deeply saddened by the events unfolding in South Africa and our condolences go out to the families of those in various communities who have lost loved ones. We deplore the criminal behaviour we are confronted with, which cannot be justified or excused. We have joined organised business in calling on the government to restore law and order”, said Steve Binnie Chief Executive Officer of Sappi Limited.

Sappi will update shareholders once there is any material change in the situation.

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JOHANNESBURG, July 12, 2021 (Press Release) -Sappi Limited, a leading global provider of powerful everyday materials made from woodfibre-based renewable resources today announces its partnership with EcoVadis, a global leader in third-party evaluations of business sustainability performance. The two companies will collaborate to assess the sustainability performance of Sappi’s suppliers through proactive ratings and evaluations using EcoVadis’ methodology.

As a global forest products leader, Sappi produces pulp, paper and biomaterials made from woodfibre sourced from well-managed forests and plantations. Sappi’s partnership with EcoVadis demonstrates its commitment to sustainability by empowering the company to gain a clearer view of its supply chain and suppliers, evaluate and promote responsible business practices, and scale its collective contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as outlined in its Thrive25 business strategy.

“Sappi’s purpose is to build a thriving world by unlocking the power of renewable resources to benefit people, communities and the planet,” said Tracy Wessels, General Manager, Group Head of Sustainability, Sappi Limited. “By working together in partnership with EcoVadis and our valued suppliers, we can better identify risk, assess social and environmental performance, and encourage commitment to sustainable choices and the SDGs throughout our value chain. It reinforces the expectations we set out in our Supplier Code of Conduct, and provides a platform to build transparency and collaborate.” 

The EcoVadis methodology focuses on 21 sustainability criteria that are grouped into four themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. These criteria are aligned with international sustainability standards such as the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and the ISO 26000 standard.

"Having already rated nearly 3000 companies in Africa, EcoVadis sees strong potential to accelerate sustainable practices across the continent. We are extremely pleased to work with Sappi, an African multinational company demonstrating their leadership and expanding their sustainability commitments by engaging their value chain in the sustainability performance improvement journey," said Emily Rakowski, CMO of EcoVadis. "Having undergone the rating process themselves in all three of their regional entities, and achieving Platinum level performance, Sappi is setting a great example for their suppliers to follow."

About EcoVadis

EcoVadis is the world’s most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, intelligence and collaborative performance improvement tools for global supply chains. Backed by a powerful technology platform and a global team of domain experts, EcoVadis’ easy-to-use and actionable sustainability scorecards provide detailed insight into environmental, social and ethical risks across 200 purchasing categories and 160 countries. Industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, L’Oréal, Subway, Nestlé, Salesforce, Michelin and BASF are among the more than 75,000 businesses on the EcoVadis network, all working with a single methodology to evaluate, collaborate and improve sustainability performance in order to protect their brands, foster transparency and innovation, and accelerate growth.