Article published on BeBeez Magazine n. 26 of November 23, 2024,
part of the in-depth analysis of the contents of the first illimity meet, organized in collaboration with BeBeez
by Stefania Peveraro
Gpack, the packaging group that then produced cardboard boxes and cases for the luxury, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and beverage sectors, as well as counter and floor displays, printing and advertising posters, has almost reached its goal. In 2021, it had signed a debt restructuring agreement with Illimity, Oxy Capital and the financial creditors pursuant to art. 182-bis of the old Italian Bankruptcy Law (see here a previous article by BeBeez) and last Summer, thanks once again to the support of illimity, exited that agreement earlier than expected and is now fully back in bonis (see here a previous article by BeBeez). In recent years, Gpack has implemented a strategic plan that has brought the ebitda from 1.9 million to approximately 15 million in 4 years, against revenues that have risen from 50 to 90 million. All thanks to a reconversion of the business on the luxury segment, the one with the highest margins. An operation that required a significant investment plan, of 15 million euros, which will be completed in the first part of 2025.
“We still have to install a series of machines to reach the end of our investment plan. A printing machine costs 4.8-5 million, it is not a small amount and therefore you cannot make a mistake”, explained Mario Vanoni, Chief Business Officer of Gpack, speaking at the round table organized by BeBeez for illimity last November 20 in Milan, to discuss Relaunch and growth: structured finance opportunities for SMEs (watch the video here and click here to download the slides of the speeches). And Mr. Vanoni added: “The investments were used to convert the Trucazzano (Milan) plant and modernize the technology in the Vailate (Cremona) plant. To date, we have two machines arriving at the end of the year and the most important one arriving at the beginning of 2025, which will allow us to be more competitive with our competitors”.
Vanoni continued: “Gpack today has 5 plants and is a leader in the packaging sector for perfumes and cosmetics, with clients such as Dolce & Gabbana and Euritalia, licensee of Versace and Moschino, but also in the food sector with clients such as Ferrero. 97% of production is destined for the foreign market”.
Founded by the Bramucci family, between 2013 and 2020 the group has constantly increased its turnover through acquisitions in various sectors. In particular, in the luxury packaging sector, E. Siani was acquired in 2013 and the French company Alliora in 2017, while in the general packaging segment there was the acquisition of GPP Industrie Grafiche in 2016, Silton in 2017 and Litorama in 2019; finally, in pharma packaging, Interpack was acquired in 2018. However, the growth in revenues had not kept pace with that of profitability and with the outbreak of the pandemic, and the consequent closure of duty free and perfumeries, the group entered a liquidity crisis.
Hence the first intervention of illimity with emergency finance and the appointment of an advisor to look for a possible buyer. But, Vanoni recalls, “all those who made offers were only interested in some factories, some wanted luxury, some general packaging, some pharmaceuticals. Only Oxy Capital made an offer for the entire company”. And in fact it won the deal.
Oxy Capital’s entry into the company led to two important changes. Vanoni continued: “On the one hand, a cohesive team of managers was created, focused on the objective of identifying the most profitable clients and branches of the company. This way, we understood which customers could be partners for a subsequent path and which could not. At the same time, product prices were increased and customers understood the project, because at that point they had been transformed into partners”. The other big news was that “the division dedicated to billboards was closed, a new plant of 10 thousand square meters and 5 thousand pallet spaces was opened to produce rigid boxes, with the result that at the end of 2022 the production capacity doubled. The display division was then opened, which creates a lot of margins, but above all, the general packaging plant in Trucazzano, acquired in 2016, which had not had positive results for some time, was converted to luxury production. This operation meant not only investments in machinery, but also the involvement of people. And speaking of people, I want to underline that in these years we have safeguarded the entire workforce, indeed we have hired personnel, especially young people: 40% of the current workforce has arrived in recent years”.
This article is part of the following wider Insight View
Gpack, here’s how to get back to growth after a perfect storm
