Kimberly-Clark sells two manufacturing plants

Livingstone Madrid has advised Kimberly-Clark on the sale of two tissue manufacturing plants located in the Basque region of Spain to a consortium made up of Indarkia, S.L. and Zurbost Gestión, and private equity fund Ezten FCR, part of the Basque Government.

The divestment also includes a manufacturing agreement for the ongoing production and supply to Kimberly-Clark of the tissue products currently produced at the Aranguren and Arceniega plants. The new owners announced they will be focused on the competitiveness and developing the future potential of the company. They confirmed their investment commitment will reach €20m over the next three years.

Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 150 countries. With brands such as Kleenex®, Andrex®, Scott®, Huggies®, Pull-Ups®, Kotex® and Depend®, Kimberly-Clark holds the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in more than 80 countries.

Indarkia is a company created by Basque entrepreneurs with the aim of carrying out long-term investments in companies in the industrial and energy sectors. Ezten FCR is a private equity fund under the responsibility of Department of Industry, Innovation, Trade and Tourism of the Basque Country. Ezten is currently investing €80m in 57 different companies.

Steven Lewis, Partner at Livingstone Madrid commented: “The sale of these assets by Kimberly-Clark to a group of Basque investors with the strong support of the private equity arm of the local government will provide continuing employment for the workforce as well as help to maintain the region’s strong commitment to the paper industry. Livingstone worked closely with Kimberly-Clark management to arrive at a deal that made sense for both sides.”