RPC was established in 1991 following the management buyout of the plastic operations of Reedpack Ltd from SCA. Originally comprising five UK factories, the company today has over 55 operations in 19 countries and employs more than 11,100 people, with annual sales in excess of £1bn. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1993 and entered the FTSE 250 in March 2011.

RPC is unique in offering products manufactured by the three main conversion processes – blow moulding, injection moulding and thermoforming, each technology producing different product characteristics that are suitable for specific packaging applications. It is structured along market and technological lines into six clusters which are aligned to these three processes.

Each cluster has on average seven manufacturing sites, operating across a wide geographical area for reasons of customer proximity, local market demand and manufacturing resource. Each plant is run autonomously.

This structure gives RPC a high degree of knowledge and expertise, along with the flexibility to deal with all types of sizes of businesses, and enables the company to deliver packaging solutions tailored each time to individual customer requirements, as well as the highest levels of service and support.


http://www.rpc-group.com/

For what its worth, with the market in such a bad way

24 Aug JP Morgan... 793.00 Overweight

14 Sep Deutsche Bank 730.00 Buy

18 Sep Panmure Gordon 828.00 Buy

1 Oct Deutsche Bank 730.00 Buy

1 Oct JP Morgan... 793.00 Overweight

Pre Close Trading Statement
RNS
RNS Number : 6009A
RPC Group PLC
30 September 2015

30 September 2015



RPC Group Plc



Pre Close Trading Statement



RPC Group Plc ("RPC" or "Group"), the international plastic products design and engineering company, today issues a pre close trading statement for the period 1 April 2015 to 30 September 2015 ("first half" or "period"), ahead of its first half results announcement due to be published on 25 November 2015.



Trading performance



Revenues in the first half are projected to be significantly ahead of the same period last year, benefiting from the contribution of acquisitions and continued organic growth. Overall trading is expected to be in line with management's expectations taking into account the adverse impact of the time lag in passing through higher polymer prices and the foreign exchange translation headwind. Polymer prices reached an all-time high in July (which will be reflected in selling prices of the Group's products) but have reduced thereafter.



The integration of Promens is progressing well, with the realisation of the previously announced cost synergies of €30m per annum coming in ahead of schedule. Further synergies are currently being assessed.



The Group's financial position remains robust, with good cash flow development in the first half and it has significant headroom under its debt facilities.



Commenting on the first half performance, Pim Vervaat, RPC's Chief Executive, said:



"Our first half performance has been encouraging and further trading improvements are anticipated in the second half as polymer prices ease and additional Promens synergies are realised. The Vision 2020 strategy continues to generate further opportunities for growth."

Moving at last .

On Friday, RPC Group PLC (RPC:LSE) closed at 665.50, 4.42 % below its 52-week high of 696.24, set on Jul 20, 2015

16 Nov JP Morgan... 829.00 Overweight

Half yearly report

25 Nov Panmure Gordon 840.00 Buy
25 Nov Canaccord... 745.00 Buy

26 Nov Deutsche Bank 760.00 Buy

27 Nov Jefferies... 850.00 Buy

Think I'm in love with this share. DC. xx

'Lovely Jubbly'

Proposed Acquisition of Global Closure Systems
RNS
RNS Number : 9150I
RPC Group PLC
14 December 2015





14 December 2015



RPC Group Plc



Proposed Acquisition of Global Closure Systems ("GCS Group")



Fully underwritten 1 for 5 rights issue to raise gross proceeds of approximately £232.6 million



RPC Group Plc ("RPC" or "the Company"), a leading plastic products design and engineering company for packaging and non-packaging markets, today announces the proposed acquisition of GCS Group, a leading global manufacturer and provider of closures and dispensing systems, for an enterprise value of €650 million (approximately £470 million1) on a cash-free, debt-free basis (the "Acquisition"), which represents a multiple of 6.8 times the GCS Seller Group's EBITDA for the 12 month period ended on 30 September 20152. On Completion, the cash consideration payable to the GCS Seller will be €186 million (approximately £134 million1).



The Board believes that GCS Group is a leading global manufacturer and provider of closures and dispensing systems for consumer products in more than 100 countries worldwide. Its global reach is underpinned by its local presence, with 21 manufacturing sites and two mould shops strategically located in 13 countries. For the year ended 31 December 2014, GCS Group achieved revenues of €590.5 million (£426.6 million1) and EBITDA of €82.8 million (£59.8 million1).



RPC proposes to fund the Acquisition through a mixture of equity (by way of a fully underwritten rights issue (the "Rights Issue")) and debt. The Rights Issue at a price of 460 pence per share will raise gross proceeds of approximately £232.6 million. The Rights Issue will be on the basis of 1 New Ordinary Share for every 5 Existing Ordinary Shares held on the Record Date. The balance will be funded through drawings on RPC's existing Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF"), which has been increased from £490 million to £770 million. The Board expects the Enlarged Group's opening leverage at 31 March 2016 to be approximately 2.1 times the Enlarged Group's EBITDA for the period ending 31 March 2016.



Highlights of the Acquisition



The Board believes that the Acquisition represents a significant opportunity for RPC to broaden its product capabilities in European rigid plastic packaging by allowing it to offer closure solutions alongside its existing packaging product offering. The Board believes that GCS Group's extensive footprint in Europe alongside a strategic foothold in Asia, the US and Latin America is highly complementary to RPC's, creating possibilities for higher combined growth and reductions in the combined cost base. The Board believes that the Acquisition is an excellent fit with RPC's Vision 2020 objectives and meets RPC's strict acquisition criteria. The Board also believes that RPC will benefit from greater product diversification, a broadened customer base, an enlarged platform to generate efficiency savings and an improved purchasing position.



The Board expects the Acquisition and Rights Issue to enhance RPC's earnings per share (adjusted for the discount element of the Rights Issue) in the first full financial year post Acquisition3 with the GCS Group's ROCE4 ahead of RPC's WACC.



The Board believes that the combination of the two businesses would create a significantly enhanced European platform in rigid plastic packaging. The Acquisition also extends RPC's reach in several niche end-markets, creating significant opportunities for enhanced combined growth and scale. The Board believes that the Acquisition is attractive to RPC's shareholders and offers a number of benefits and opportunities, in particular:



· Further strengthening of European market position



− The Board believes that GCS Group is a well-established and highly respected market player with a well invested European and global manufacturing footprint

− The Board believes that the GCS Group product range of closures and dispensing systems will enable RPC to better serve its customers and operate as a one-stop-shop providing a combined containers and closures solution on a global basis



· Strengthening of selected market positions in core European end-markets



− The Board believes that GCS Group is a leader in Europe for the food, household and pharma end-markets, and a highly positioned player for personal care, beverage and wine and spirits end-markets

− The Board believes that GCS Group has a diversified customer base and serves some of the leading companies and distributors in Europe in each of its six end-market categories, which are complementary to RPC



· Reinforces presence outside of Europe



− GCS Group operates manufacturing facilities in Mexico, the US, Thailand, the Philippines and China. In addition, it has licence agreements in a further nine countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Morocco, Tunisia, Israel, South Korea, India and the UAE)

− The Board believes that the Chinese and US operations will complement RPC's existing presence in these regions, while the additional sites will enable RPC to further extend its global reach and reinforce its growing presence outside of Europe, one of the key pillars of RPC's Vision 2020 strategy



· Higher operating margins through procurement synergies



− The Board is targeting ongoing annual pre-tax cost synergies of €15 million per annum, fully realisable within the first two full years following Completion

− The majority of these cost synergies are related to polymer purchasing and other areas of procurement (particularly in Europe)

− The Board has also identified some opportunities for removal of duplicate administrative overheads and the optimisation of the Group's manufacturing footprint

− The realisation of the targeted cost synergies is anticipated to require a cash outlay of approximately €10 million, expected to be incurred in the first full year of ownership

− There is also scope for cash synergies, beyond the €15 million per annum identified cost synergies, arising from the alignment of capital expenditure and improved working capital management



· Adding niche technologies



− The Board believes that GCS Group is a global specialist in plastic closures and dispensing systems serving a wide range of end-markets. The Acquisition will add to the existing caps, closures and lids section capabilities of RPC



· Enhancing scale in polymer buying



− RPC currently purchases approximately 475,000 tonnes of polymer per annum, mainly in Western Europe, while GCS Group purchases approximately 135,000 tonnes of polymer per annum, with both companies sharing the same key suppliers

− The Enlarged Group's polymer consumption is expected to equate to approximately 6 per cent. of the total Western European output of polymers for rigid plastic packaging

− Following Completion, RPC intends to centrally co-ordinate the purchase of polymers across the Enlarged Group, rolling out its own optimised purchasing strategy



Pim Vervaat, Chief Executive of RPC, commented:



"Today's announcement marks a further key milestone in the execution of our Vision 2020 strategy.



The proposed acquisition of GCS Group provides a compelling opportunity for RPC to expand its product offering with an extensive range of highly complementary closure and dispensing solutions and technologies.



The combination will further strengthen RPC's European platform in rigid plastic packaging, with our enhanced scale creating significant opportunities for procurement and efficiency synergies whilst providing additional platforms for growth outside Europe.



We believe RPC and GCS Group are an excellent fit and we look forward to developing our enlarged platform to generate further value for our customers and shareholders."



As a result of its size, the Acquisition is conditional upon, among other things, the approval of Shareholders of RPC at the General Meeting to be held on 4 January 2016; completion of the Works Councils information and consultation processes; obtaining approvals required by the relevant competition authorities in certain jurisdictions and the Underwriting Agreement having become unconditional (other than in respect of the condition relating to Admission). The Acquisition is expected to complete by the end of March 2016.



A prospectus relating to the Acquisition and the New Ordinary Shares (the "Prospectus") is expected to be published and posted to Shareholders on or around 14 December 2015. The Prospectus, when published, will be made available on RPC's website (www.rpc-group.com) and will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm.do.



Details of the fully underwritten Rights Issue



RPC proposes to raise approximately £232.6 million (£227.0 million, net of expenses) by way of a rights issue of up to 50,568,136 New Ordinary Shares at 460 pence each on the basis of 1 New Ordinary Share for every 5 Existing Ordinary Shares held on the Record Date.



The issue price will be 460 pence which represents a discount of 35.1 per cent. to the theoretical ex-rights price of 709 pence per Ordinary Share on the Latest Practicable Date, adjusted for the interim dividend for the six months ended 30 September 2015 of 5.2 pence per share which will be paid to Shareholders who are on the register of members of the Company at the close of business on 29 December 2015.



The Rights Issue has been fully underwritten by the Underwriters. The Rights Issue is being made to all Qualifying Shareholders (other than, subject to certain exemptions, Excluded Overseas Shareholders) on the register of members of the Company at the close of business on 29 December 2015.



The New Ordinary Shares will not be entitled to the interim dividend for the six month period ended 30 September 2015 because they will be issued after the end of the period to which the interim dividend relates.

Bet you're getting some pennies together in readyness for this one DC

:-))

Shares - RPC is targeting €15 million of annual cost synergies from the deal, but it has a history of under-promising and over-delivering. When it acquired Promens in February it was targeting £21.6 million of synergies, but it recently increased this to £36 million.

OH YES!

:-)) RPC Group PLC (RPC:LSE) set a new 52-week high during today's trading session when it reached 823.00. Over this period, the share price is up 55.35%.