(peHUB) April 16, 2012 – Vision Capital today announces that it has acquired Vitopel from funds advised by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and J.P. Morgan Partners.

Vitopel is the market leader in BOPP (“bi-axially oriented polypropylene”) film production in Latin America, generating over $300 million of revenue in 2011. Its materials are widely used for products such as snack foods, fresh produce and confectionery products. Vision Capital intends to use Vitopel as a platform for consolidation in the BOPP industry and to capitalise on the high growth potential within the Latin American BOPP film packaging market, driven by increasing commercial and consumer demand.

As part of the transaction, Vision Capital has completed a debt restructuring led by Vitopel’s existing creditors, Credit Suisse and Santander, who will continue as lenders to the company.

Vision Capital has appointed Peter A. Briggs, a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal, the independent global professional services firm, as Group Executive Chairman of Vitopel. Mr Briggs will work with the existing management team to deliver an operational improvement programme and drive the consolidation strategy.

This acquisition builds on Vision Capital’s experience in delivering strategic and operational turnaround at Brazilian speciality packaging producer Terphane, which Vision Capital sold in 2011 after a successful turnaround programme.

Christophe Browne of Vision Capital said: “We are delighted to continue expanding our presence in the Americas and to build upon our experience delivering strategic and operational improvements in the speciality film sector. We already have a good understanding of Vitopel’s sector as a result our investment in Terphane, which we successfully exited in 2011, and we are confident that Vitopel represents an opportunity for substantial value creation. Vitopel represents an exceptional vehicle for us to invest in a market-leading, high growth business and we see significant opportunities to develop this business and pursue further industry consolidation.”

Peter A. Briggs, Group Executive Chairman of Vitopel, said:
“I look forward to working with Vitopel and Vision Capital to realise the full potential of Vitopel. The combination of Vision Capital’s experience and expertise in this field and geography, Vitopel’s market leading presence and the high growth potential of this industry present excellent opportunities for the future.”

About Vision Capital
Vision Capital is an international investor with an innovative approach to private equity. It seeks to buy businesses in privately negotiated, tailored and highly structured transactions. It targets investments in Europe and the Americas that bring significant influence or control in transaction sizes ranging from €50 million to €1 billion. It has a multi‐sector approach with specialist expertise in Financials & Real Estate, Industrials & Manufacturing, Business Services and Consumer.

Vision Capital typically acquires entire portfolios of assets instead of single assets, as it prefers opportunities where it can structure a transaction that is more strategic for the seller. It takes an active partnering approach with its investors, and seeks to make investments where new strategies and further capital investments offer the potential for further growth.

Since inception, Vision Capital has raised seven funds totalling over €1.9 billion. Through 13 transactions, Vision Capital has invested in ten portfolios with an underlying enterprise value of €2.5 billion and has acquired 40 companies in total.
Vision Capital’s current portfolio consists of 26 investments including Bormioli Rocco, New Evolution Ventures and BrightHouse.

About Vitopel
Vitopel is an Brazilian based Bi-Axially Oriented Polypropylene (“BOPP”) packaging film producer, which predominately distributes into the Brazilian and Argentinean markets. With a production capacity of 115,000 tons a year, Vitopel is one of the largest BOPP companies in the world, with the leading market positions in Brazil and Argentina. Vitopel is a leader in product innovation with the only pilot line to support new product development in Latin America.