It was revealed yesterday that New Zealand plastic container company Sistema was sold for $660 million to US Fortune 500 company Newell Brands. Its founder, Brendan Lindsay, started out 34 years ago by making plastic coat hangers in a half-built garage in Cambridge.
The Sistema sale follows other recent big trade sales to international companies in recent times.
• In 2007, Independent Liquor was sold to Flavoured Beverages, a joint venture company formed by Pacific Equity Partners, Unitas, Lynne Erceg and the management of Independent Liquor (NZ) for $1.25 billion. After four years of private equity ownership, the Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings Ltd completed its purchase of Independent Liquor Group in September 2011.
• In 2011, juice company Charlie's also sold to Asahi for $129.3 million. The company was started in 1999 by Marc Ellis, Stefan Lepionka and Simon Neal.
• In 2006, Kiwi vodka company 42 Below was sold to Bacardi Ltd for 77c a share, rocketing founder Geoff Ross's personal fortune from next to nothing to more than $35 million. The cash offer represented a $138 million investment by Bacardi. Ross sold his first bottle of New Zealand-made vodka from his Wellington garage seven years prior to the sale.
