CCL Industries, the world’s laregst label manufacturer, has announced that it has acquired the assets of Powerpress Rotulos & Etiquetas Adesivas LTDA, Brazil’s leading producer of expanded content labels for agricultural chemical and pharmaceutical customers.
Based in Sao Paolo, privately owned Powerpress had 2015 sales of approximately $6.5 million and an adjusted EBITDA of $2.5 million. Purchase price consideration is estimated at $10.25 million and is subject to certain customary completion adjustments.

Geoffrey Martin, president and CEO of CCL, comments, “We have been in Brazil for 10 years, where our CCL Label operation remains one of the best performing business units in the company. Despite the changed economic climate in the country, we believe now is a good time to make strategic investments to broaden our market presence.”

Powerpress will be immediately integrated into CCL Label Brazil, and it will be led by Luis Jocionis, vice president and managing director.”

CCL has also announced the acquisition of  Zephyr Company, a privately held company headquartered in Singapore and its two Malaysian subsidiaries in Penang and Johor, purchasing 100% of the outstanding equity interest in the three entities in both countries from multiple private shareholders.

Zephyr is a leading label converter focused on customers in the electronics industry. Sales in 2015 were approximately $36 million with an adjusted EBITDA estimated at $6 million. Purchase price consideration net of cash acquired, subject to customary completion adjustments, is estimated at $39 million and includes a large owned manufacturing facility in Singapore.

“We are delighted to welcome CS Ko and his deeply experienced people to CCL,” says Martin.“Zephyr will immediately change its trading identity to CCL Design and continue to focus on the electronics industry in Southeast Asia. The new business reports locally to Jim Anzai, vice president and managing director, CCL Asia, and forms an integral part of the global CCL Design initiative. These new geographies for CCL are important for the development of our overall business in Asia, complementing our strong presence in the electronics industry in China following the acquisition of Worldmark in 2015.” Martin comments.

CCL also announced the acquisition of Checkpoint Systems, Inc. for $10.15 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $556 million, including net cash. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and is expected to close in mid-2016.

Checkpoint is a leading manufacturer of technology-driven, loss prevention, inventory management and labeling solutions, including RF and RFID-based, to the retail and apparel industry. The business has operations in 29 countries, including 46 go-to-market units and 21 manufacturing facilities. For the last 12 months ended September 27, 2015, Checkpoint announced it generated net revenue of approximately $820 million and Adjusted EBITDA (before synergies) of $83 million, resulting in an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.2%.

Martin remarks, “We have admired Checkpoint for many years as they built a unique, leading global position providing technology-driven label solutions to the retail and apparel industry. We are very pleased to welcome their deeply experienced people to CCL where they will continue to focus on this important industry for emerging ‘smart label’ technologies.”

In personnel news, CCL announced the appointment of Guenther Birkner as president of the healthcare and specialty business at CCL Label, in addition to his existing responsibilities in food and beverage. The company also announced that Peter Fleissner has been named president of CCL Design. This move reflects the growing importance of this new sector to CCL, especially following the acquisitions of Worldmark, Woelco and Zephyr announced in November 2015.

Both executives continue to report to Geoffrey Martin. “Guenther and Peter are deeply experienced industry leaders who have overseen dramatic expansions in their businesses during their CCL careers,” comments  Martin. “Guenther joined us through our founding investment in the food and beverage space at Pachem in Austria in 2003, and Peter with the acquisition of CD Design in 2008; the initial platform to build our presence in the durable goods sector.

“Together with Ben Rubino, president, Home and Personal Care for both CCL Label and CCL Container, and Jim Sellors, president, Avery North America, they run most of our global operations, supported by cross business unit regional leadership teams and joint ventures that handle directly emerging market organizations,” concludes Martin, adding, “We are very fortunate to have such a formidable group of operating leaders.”