Fidal assisted SGT Group in its acquisition of Axium Packaging

Fidal assisted SGT Group in its acquisition of Axium Packaging, a manufacturer of plastic packaging previously owned by Cerea Partners, with a multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary team of lawyers led by Rozenn Berthelot (Tax Partner) and Isabelle Cornu (Corporate/M&A Partner). 

The team was made up of the 3 members of the international unyer organization (Fidal in France, Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH in Germany and Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati in Italy) as well as PRK Partners s.r.o., advokátní kancelář in the Czech Republic, coordinated by Gacia Kazandjian (Corporate/M&A Partner). The team members worked together to provide legal and tax advice (transactional, financing, legal and tax advice as well as legal, tax and labor due diligence) in the various jurisdictions involved in the transaction, France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic.

SGT Group is a French manufacturer specializing in the design and manufacture of PET preforms for food and non-food applications, as well as HDPE caps. A family business founded in Nantes in 1981, SGT stands out for its capacity for innovation, with an R&D laboratory and one of the most modern plants in France, located at its headquarters in Rezé (44).

Axium Packaging is a manufacturer of plastic packaging (mainly virgin and recycled PET1 plastic bottles, jars and caps) for the food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals sectors. In over 55 years, Axium Packaging has become a major player in the design and manufacture of PET & R-PET plastic packaging for the food industry as well as for consumer health, hygiene and beauty products. Axium Packaging's products include bottles, caps and boxes. With 385 employees, Axium Packaging operates 5 production sites, including 2 in France, 1 in Germany, 1 in Italy and 1 in the Czech Republic, and achieved sales of over €80 million in 2024.

With the acquisition of Axium Packaging, SGT has consolidated its position in Europe, with 935 employees at 17 sites and consolidated sales of €400 million post-acquisition. 

Isabelle Cornu and Rozenn Berthelot, Partners at Fidal "We are delighted to have assisted SGT Group and its shareholders in this transaction, which will enable the group to strengthen its position as an independent player in the market for the design and manufacture of PET & R-PET plastic packaging for the food industry and consumer health, hygiene and beauty products. This transaction will enable SGT Group to pursue its development and diversification plan, based in particular on new value-added and sustainable products." 

Transaction participants
Corporate, Sell-Side: Cerea Partners (Antoine Peyronnet), BPIFrance (Denis Talaron), Axium Packaging (Yves Cury)
Corporate M&A Advisory: Forvis Mazars (Matthieu Boye, Mathieu Bickel, Hakim Toumani)
Corporate Legal Counsel: EY Avocats (Loic Jeambrun, Alice Morel-Fournier)
Financial Due Diligence, Sell-Side: Advance Capital (Guillaume Philippot, Malek Benteldoune)
Buyer: SGT Group (Frédéric MIGNOT)
M&A Advisory, Buy-Side: Adviso Partners (Guillaume Dary, Samuel Fayolle, Nicolas Mogarra, Lamya Khattabi)
Financing Advisory, Buy-Side: Adviso Partners (Olivier Amicel), Fidal (Arthur Bombard, Océane Michel, Maeva Vabres, Naomi Houna) 
Legal Counsel, Buy-Side: Fidal (Isabelle Cornu, Rozenn Berthelot, Edith Gueye)
Financial Due Diligence, Buy-Side: KPMG (Arnaud Colas, Cyril Cagic, Antoine Combes)
Legal Due Diligence, Buy-Side, France: Fidal (Corporate - Isabelle Cornu, Gacia Kazandjian, Pierre Turberville; Tax - Rozenn Berthelot, Edith Gueye; Labor - Mathieu Hervé, Astrid Le Menn; Competition - Isabelle Galand, Hu-gues Jeanteur; Environment - Camille Jarry)
Legal Due Diligence, Buy-Side, Italy: Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati (Massimo Di Terlizzi, Clarissa Galli, Da-ria Ferrario, Ottavio Sangiorgio, Ermanno Vaglio, Alberto Colucci, Pietro Pennuto, Esterina Mascioli)
Legal Due Diligence SPA and Tax, Buy-Side, Germany: Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (Thomas Kuhnle, Andreas Kloyer, Lida Karra, Thorsten Becker, Nicole Fröhlich, Daniel Kalayjian, Franck Seidel, Fabien Wehner, Isabel Schaefer, Astrid Schnabel)
Legal Due Diligence, Buy-Side, Czech Republic: PRK Partners s.r.o., advokátní kancelář (François Veit, Marta Donizeau, Martin Svalbach, Matej Danek, Sarka Kalinova, Eva Fialova, Jan Burger, Van Duc Nguyen)
Banks involved in the transaction: BNP Paribas (Guillaume Chesnel, Anne Lemoine, Céline Mahe), Banque Populaire Grand Ouest (Jean-Philippe Croguennec, Eve Dasquie), Arkea (Brendan Gianoncelli, Sophie Laigo), LCL (Silvère Prin, Charles Pontreau), CIC Ouest (Anne-Cécile Bescond, Julien Huguet), HSBC (Nelly Foissy, Ma-thieu Florent, Séverine Chaplain), Société Générale (Damien Lesage, Jeremy Herault)