Gerresheimer has agreed to offload Centor and its global Primary Packaging Plastics business to an affiliate of funds advised by private equity company Apax Partners.
The two units have a combined enterprise value of €1.5bn ($1.7bn). No other financial terms were made public.
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Each transaction will proceed separately and remains subject to customary closing conditions and approvals.
The German packaging company said the sale proceeds will be used to “significantly optimise” its capital and financing structure through leverage reduction.
Gerresheimer chief financial officer Wolf Lehmann said: “We will use the expected cash inflows to accelerate our debt reduction. Together with the planned comprehensive refinancing, this will significantly reduce our interest expenses and achieve a sustainable capital structure.”
The Apax Funds will take over the business that supplies packaging systems for dispensing prescription drugs in the US, along with the global primary plastic packaging operation.
The sale covers the Centor site in the US, as well as 15 manufacturing locations for primary plastic packaging across nine countries.
In 2025, the two operations posted combined revenue of roughly €570m and employed 2,400 people in total.
Gerresheimer expects the Centor transaction to be completed by the end of financial year 2026 (FY26).
The sale of the global Primary Packaging Plastics business is projected to close in the first half of FY27.
Gerresheimer CEO Uwe Röhrhoff said the divestment will enable the company to sharpen its focus on “high-value” drug delivery systems, medical devices and primary packaging for injectable drugs.
Gerresheimer reported a consolidated net loss of €318.7m in FY25, compared with an adjusted net income of €84.3m the previous year.
Its performance was hit by non-cash depreciation, amortisation and impairments totalling €521.5m.
In April, the packaging group turned down a takeover proposal from US-based Silgan, according to a Reuters report.
