Navigator completes £131m takeover of Accrol

A Portugal-based group's acquisition of Blackburn tissue paper products manufacturer Accrol has been completed after the offer price was increased to £130.8m.

The Navigator Company has purchased the entire share capital of Accrol Group Holdings after more than 99 per cent of Accrol's board voted in favour of the deal at its recent AGM.

Accrol is a leader in the tissue paper converting segment in the UK, producing toilet rolls, kitchen rolls and own-brand facial tissues for most of the main UK retailers.

It has experienced consecutive years of growth, both organically and through its own acquisitions. For the half-year ending October 31st, 2023, Accrol posted revenues of £100.3m and Adjusted EBITDA of £10.2m. 

Navigator is a large Portuguese integrated pulp, paper, tissue, packaging and biomass-based energy company, listed with a market capitalisation of approximately €2.75bn. In the financial year ended 31 December 2023 Navigator reported consolidated revenues of €1,953m and consolidated EBITDA of €502m.

The Navigator Company is ranked seventh worldwide in capacity of production of fine printing and writing paper, processing more than 1.6 million tonnes of paper per year. It moved into the tissue market in 2014, and expects Accrol to account for around 50 per cent of its total tissue turnover.

The deal is expected to be effective on 24 May.