{"id":7808,"date":"2025-06-20T08:46:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T12:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.packagingindustrynews.com\/?p=7808"},"modified":"2025-06-20T08:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T12:46:13","slug":"paul-coulson-offered-250m-to-exit-ardagh-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.packagingindustrynews.com\/?p=7808","title":{"rendered":"Paul Coulson offered $250m to exit Ardagh Group"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Coulson will receive a one-time payment of approximately $250m in exchange for Ardagh\u2019s glass business and his majority stake in the metal unit. Credit: JHVEPhoto \/ Shutterstock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Irish billionaire Paul Coulson is close to finalising a deal that would transfer complete control of Ardagh Group, a global packaging giant he developed, to its creditors, reported Bloomberg<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coulson will receive a one-time payment of approximately $250m in exchange for Ardagh\u2019s glass business and his majority stake in the metal unit.<\/p>\n

The decision follows intense negotiations with creditors to resolve Ardagh\u2019s substantial debt, which includes approximately $12.5bn in borrowings.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed settlement, Coulson will step away from the company he has expanded over the last two-and-a-half decades, which includes relinquishing the Ardagh Metal Packaging (AMP) division.<\/p>\n

The terms of the deal, still under discussion, are part of broader debt solution talks. These talks are centred on addressing around $2.5bn of bonds due in August 2026 and would require a fresh capital injection into the business.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg <\/em>reported that unsecured creditors would gain a majority stake post-restructuring, with secured creditors having their debt reinstated at par and receiving a high coupon rate.<\/p>\n

Coulson had initially proposed spinning off shares from the AMP division into a new entity, with 80% ownership retained by existing Ardagh shareholders and only 20% allocated to unsecured creditors.<\/p>\n

Ardagh currently holds a 76% stake in the New York-listed AMP.<\/p>\n

Ardagh Group acknowledged the need to reduce its $12.5bn debt more than a year ago, as the financial burden grew unsustainable amid disappointing earnings.<\/p>\n

The situation with senior unsecured creditors became more complex when Ardagh announced in April that its beverage cans unit had seen a turnaround, with a surge in activity across various beverage categories.<\/p>\n

AMP\u2019s revenues increased by 11% year-on-year in the first quarter, reaching $1.27bn, prompting an upward revision of its full-year earnings forecast.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Ardagh\u2019s legacy glass business experienced a 6.7% revenue decline to $961m in the same quarter, continuing its struggle.<\/p>\n

Additionally, holders of approximately $1.8bn in high-risk bonds from a holding company above Ardagh Group stand to lose the majority of their investment, with these bonds currently trading at only 4% of their initial value. Coulson\u2019s control over Ardagh Group is facilitated through an 18.8% direct stake in its ultimate parent and a 52.4% interest in Yeoman Capital, which owns 33.9% of the group, effectively giving him a 36.6% equity share in the business.<\/p>\n

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