Veritiv Corp. will be acquired by an affiliate of private equity company Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in a $2.3 billion deal that will make it a privately held company.
“This agreement is a pivotal moment in Veritiv's history,” Sal Abbate, CEO of Atlanta-based packaging, facility solutions and print products distributor Veritiv, said in a Monday news release.
Once the deal is complete, Veritiv becomes a private company and shares of its common stock no longer will be listed on any public markets. Veritiv stock has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 2014, following the company’s creation through the combination of International Paper spinoff xpedx and Unisource Worldwide.
Veritiv's board of directors unanimously approved the transaction and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the deal. Shareholders are offered $170 per share in cash, an approximately 20% premium over Friday’s closing price. The transaction is expected to close in Q4, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
The Veritiv news is the latest of many private equity deals announced in the packaging industry this year. Last week, an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners agreed to buy Constantia Flexibles in a 1.1 billion euro deal.
In May 2022, Imperial Dade closed on a deal to buy the Veritiv Canada business, which resulted in about 900 Canadian Veritiv employees becoming Imperial Dade employees. The purchase marked New Jersey-based Imperial Dade’s first move into Canada.
Veritiv is scheduled to release its Q2 earnings results on Tuesday. Its Q1 net sales totaled $1.5 billion, down 18.7% year over year.
