Blackstone has appointed Axis Capital, Bank of America and HSBC as lead bankers for the proposed initial public offering of PGP Glass, formerly Piramal Glass, sources familiar with the matter told The Economic Times.
PGP Glass, which is fully owned by Blackstone, is expected to raise about $400 million to $500 million through the public listing, the sources said. Bloomberg reported last month that Blackstone was considering an IPO at a valuation of around $4 billion.
Mail sent to Blackstone did not elicit any responses.
Blackstone acquired Piramal Glass from the Ajay Piramal family in 2020 at a valuation of about $800 million. The transaction was advised by Axis Capital and Bank of America.
PGP Glass Private Limited is a global specialist in design, production, and decoration of glass packaging, providing glass packaging solutions for customers in the Cosmetics & Perfumery, Food & Specialty Spirits, and Pharmaceuticals industries.
It has presence in India and Sri Lanka with an overall capacity of 1,720 tonnes per day, with 12 furnaces and 70 production lines. It has offices and warehousing facilities in France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, Brazil, India, the UAE, UK, and Sri Lanka. PGP Glass serves customers in over 50 countries around the world, according to the company website. About 77% of its sales come from high end cosmetics and specialty spirits.
Incorporated in 1974, Piramal Glass (formerly Gujarat Glass) was acquired by the Piramal Group in 1984. In 1990, it was merged with Piramal Healthcare Limited (PHL, erstwhile Nicholas Piramal India Limited), and in 1998, the glass division was spun off to a subsidiary. Subsequently, private equity (PE) investors picked up 46% stake in this subsidiary. After restructuring operations, in July 2003, PHL divested its 54% holding in Gujarat Glass to a new subsidiary, Kojam Fininvest, which was subsequently listed. This was followed by the merger of Kojam Fininvest into Gujarat Glass and the merged entity was later relisted as Piramal Glass Limited. It was delisted from both stock exchanges effective from July 2014.