Specialist
Former Divisional C-Level Executive at Berry Global Group Inc
Agenda
- Recent performance evaluation
- Volume and pricing trends and 2019 expectations
- Resin pricing
- Competitive threats and material substitution trends
- Potential RPC Group takeover and other acquisition opportunities
Questions
1.
What’s your high-level view of the plastic packaging space? What are the notable trends and themes that investors should pay attention to for evaluating the space in the future?
2.
The recent news of Berry acquiring the RPC Group out of London comes as a little bit of a surprise. What is the logic and strategy behind the acquisition?
3.
I think Berry said it expects somewhere around 75 million in terms of procurement benefits. How does that number strike you – is it realistic given the scale the two companies already had?
4.
Is resin buying on a local or global basis? Does adding Europe help get procurement benefits for American resin?
5.
What are some of the other potential cost synergies as part of the deal? How should we think about magnitude of overhead reduction, headcount reduction, etc?
6.
With the view that Berry would have into RPC right now, how much visibility does it have into synergies? How much should we trust that it’s giving an accurate number, might there be more to come?
7.
What are the difficulties or differences in integrating a predominantly European company vs the American acquisitions Berry has typically done? Why might it be significantly operationally different and more difficult?
8.
In terms of Berry’s historical acquisitions that have components in Europe, what should we be looking at as a point of comparison here?
9.
How should we think about the integration costs of this acquisition vs some of the larger ones that Berry’s done historically?
10.
From a cultural fit perspective, what are the other areas to consider in terms of potential risks or clashes with existing Berry?
11.
When a company acquires, it typically sheds some of the lower margin volumes in any given acquisition. Do you expect that to be the case this time and if so, how should we think about the potential volume margin impact on RPC as Berry’s acquiring?
12.
If we’re pegging this against historical acquisitions, can we assume that there’s more of an upside because of the geographical diversity?
13.
Do you see any risk associated with customer overlap, anyone that might choose not to do business with the larger company?
14.
Berry has historically shied away from consumer packaging – what changed with this acquisition, what’s the strategic logic?
15.
Why do you think there were no other perspective acquirers for RPC apart from Apollo?
16.
How might RPC help Berry operationally?
17.
Are there specific technologies that RPC has that Berry doesn’t?
18.
Can you talk a little bit about the plastic packaging concerns in Europe? Is the increased scrutiny from regulators a potential element of risk for the combined company going forward?
19.
In terms of companies pushing the recycling element, has RPC historically done that particularly well that Berry can learn from?
20.
Is there higher pricing sensitivity of the customer base in Europe vs the USA? Is there a chance that the Europeans are less willing to take price increases from Berry-RPC?
21.
Does RPC have a good reputation in its own procurement efforts?
22.
Looking a year or two ahead, what could the growth strategy in Europe be? Can we assume additional acquisitions down the line? Is there more opportunity for that in Europe than in the US?
23.
If Berry makes a strategic push into India, what kind of timeline would you put that on?
24.
Is there any regulatory interference or antitrust concerns in the merger we should be thinking of?
25.
Is there anything we should be considering when we’re looking at this acquisition that we haven’t mentioned so far, any other risks, threats, opportunities?
26.
What’s your take on Berry’s recent performance? Does anything jump out to you as surprising from looking at recent earnings?
27.
Is anything happening in the US markets that you think we should be paying attention to, any newer threats, risks, opportunities?
28.
What’s your outlook for the RPC acquisition and integration in terms of a best-case and a worst-case scenario over the next 2-3 years maybe?
