INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Eco Baltia complete acquisition of Poland’s largest PVC recycler Met

INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, the leading private equity fund in the Baltic States, together with its portfolio company Eco Baltia, the largest environmental resource management and recycling group in the Baltics, has closed an agreement for the acquisition of 70% of the shares in Metal-Plast. Metal-Plast is the largest recycler of PVC window and door profiles in Poland.

As a result of the transaction, Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund now own 70% of Metal-Plast, with 38.5% and 31.5% respectively. Family Foundation SIDN retains a 30% stake in the company. INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund owns a 52.81% stake in Eco Baltia, while 30.51% is owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The remaining shares are owned by Māris Simanovičs.

Sebastian Fedorowicz, founder of Metal-Plast, commented: “This year marks the third decade of Metal-Plast, which is a significant period in the company’s development. During these years, we have strengthened our position as the largest recycler of PVC window and door profiles in Poland. Our products and services cover the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria as well as other countries. We are now ready to take the next steps in our international development, where we will continue to work in close partnership with Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund”.

Jānis Aizbalts, Head of Environmental Services at Eco Baltia, commented: “In recent years, we have witnessed the rapid development of the Eco Baltia Group. We have expanded our activities in our home market, in Lithuania, in Czech Republic and now also in Poland. The group’s business portfolio thus far includes environmental management services and plastic packaging recycling, and since 2022 PET fiber production in addition. We are pleased to now have the opportunity to further contribute to the PVC recycling sector together with Metal-Plast”.

Vytautas Plunksnis, Partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Chairman of the Eco Baltia Supervisory Board, added: “Metal-Plast is a welcome addition to our portfolio as the 8th investment, as circular economy remains to be one of our key strategic verticals. Exciting growth journey awaits ahead in partnership with one of the most successful portfolio companies to date Eco Baltia and founder Mr. Fedorowicz as Metal-Plast turns a new page in its development.”

Metal-Plast has an annual turnover of ~€34 million and employs ~200 people. The company is based in Świebodzice, in the Polish province of Lower Silesia. Metal-Plast’s current recycling capacity is ~29,000 tonnes per year. There are plans to increase this by a factor of 1.5 to ~45,000 tonnes per year, thereby further increasing its contribution to the circular economy. To contextualise, one tonne of recycled PVC saves two tonnes of CO2 emissions, which has a significant and positive impact towards the European Union’s climate neutrality targets.

The company will continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Mr. Grzegorz Jasinski. Jasinski concluded: “One of Metal-Plast’s core values is for continuous development, where we are now entering a new and exciting phase for. We are delighted to have such influential market players with their extensive experience in international waste management operations and recycling, join our shareholder base. In close cooperation with Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, we will now be able to achieve even higher recycling targets for PVC window and door frames. This direction of travel will be particularly important in the coming years, when a wave of window replacement is expected in a number of European Union countries.”

The acquisition of Metal Plast was financed by mBank, the Polish bank of the Commerzbank Group.

Tomasz Niewola, Head of Investment Banking at Polish bank mBank: “From both a banking and advisory perspective, we are seeing an increased inflow of regional capital – including from the Baltic States – into Poland as the largest CEE economy. The recycling / circular economy segment is one of the most interesting at the moment, both in terms of ESG impact and business attractiveness”.

The owner of Metal-Plast was advised by M&A advisor mInvestment Banking S.A. (part of mBank Group) and law firm Ożóg Tomczykowski. Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund were advised by Wolf Theiss, Sorainen and Deloitte.

INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund(https://bsgf.invl.com)

With a size of EUR 165 million, the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund is a leading equity fund in the Baltics. The European Investment Fund (“EIF”) is its anchor investor.

The EIF, which is a part of the European Investment Bank, has committed EUR 30 million with the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (a key element of the Investment Plan for Europe, or ‘Junker Plan’) whilst also allocating resources from the Baltic Innovation Fund, a “fund of funds” initiative developed in cooperation with the governments of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The initiative aims to increase capital investment in high-growth potential small and medium-sized enterprises in the Baltics.

The fund seeks to assemble a diversified portfolio of companies, targeting majority or significant minority stakes through investments ranging from EUR 10 million to EUR 30 million. These companies must demonstrate high growth potential and an ability to succeed in conditions of increasing global competition and market volatility.

The fund is focused on the Baltic countries and neighbouring regions including Poland, the Nordics, and Central Europe. The fund has invested in eight companies to date, focusing on sectors including healthcare, medical rehabilitation, civil engineering, plastic recycling, environmental resource management, veterinary services, and the manufacturing of cosmetics and hygiene products.

The fund is managed by INVL, the leading Baltic investment management and life insurance group. The group’s companies manage pension and mutual funds, life insurance directions, individual portfolios, private equity as well as other alternative investments. More than 300,000 clients in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia plus international investors have entrusted the group with the management of over EUR 2 billion of assets. With a track record spanning 30 years, the group has strong expertise and experience in managing private equity assets and building true market players that are leaders in their respective fields in the Baltic countries and across Central and Eastern Europe.

Eco Baltia(https://ecobaltia.lv/en/)

Eco Baltia group is the largest environmental and waste management group in the Baltics, providing the full-cycle waste management solutions from waste collection and sorting to secondary raw material logistics, wholesale and raw material processing as well as PET and PE/PP plastics recycling.

Eco Baltia group has closed 2022 with its historically highest consolidated turnover of EUR 210 million, representing a 75% increase compared to 2021. Total combined sales revenue (pro-forma) in 2022 amounted to 240.5 million euro.

The group companies employ around 2,200 employees in Latvia, Lithuania, and Czech Republic. Its leading companies are PET Baltija, Eco Baltia vide, Latvijas Zaļais punkts, Nordic Plast, JUMIS, Pilsētas Eko Serviss, Czech TESIL Fibres and Lithuania-based Ecoservice.

Shareholders of Eco Baltia are private equity fund INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund (52.81%), the European Bank for the Reconstruction and Development (30.51%) and Māris Simanovičs (16.68%).

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