Brazil’s Moreira Salles Family Makes Strategic Move on European Bottle Leader

Reuters reports the Moreira Salles family of Brazil announced Monday their official bid to acquire remaining shares of French bottle manufacturer Verallia. The family will pay €30 per share through their investment arm BWGI, valuing the company at €6.1 billion.

The influential Brazilian dynasty already owns 28.8% of Verallia’s capital and 27.9% of voting rights through their Kaon V investment fund. Their offer represents a 23.2% premium over the one-month volume weighted average price.

Verallia stands as Europe‘s premier glass bottle manufacturer and ranks third globally in glass containers for food and beverages. The company employs 11,000 people across 35 manufacturing facilities in 12 countries worldwide.

BWGI stated they expect the initial offer period to conclude by June 2025. The investors pledged not to delist Verallia from public markets and confirmed the acquisition would preserve all current jobs.

“Our objective is to reinforce the stability of Verallia,” BWGI explained in their statement. The timing aligns strategically with Verallia’s recent earnings report showing resilience despite market challenges.

Verallia reported €3,456 million revenue for 2024, marking an 11.5% year-over-year decline. Despite this drop, the company maintained robust profitability with €842.5 million adjusted EBITDA and a 24.4% margin.

The glass packaging sector faces headwinds from Chinese tariffs on European spirits and general market slowdowns. These pressures have prompted companies like LVMH’s Hennessy to consider bottling products directly in China.

Verallia has established an ad hoc committee to evaluate the offer from the Moreira Salles family. The board will issue its formal opinion after receiving recommendations from the committee and analysis from independent experts.

In addition, the acquisition represents a significant expansion of the Moreira Salles portfolio, which already includes controlling interests in banking giant Itaú Unibanco and various energy and consumer goods investments throughout Latin America and Europe.

The Family

The Moreira Salles family, one of Brazil’s wealthiest dynasties with a collective fortune of approximately $27.9 billion, built their empire from a banking business founded by João Moreira Salles in 1924 and later expanded by his son Walther.

Their wealth stems primarily from a co-controlling stake in Itaú Unibanco (Latin America’s largest bank), ownership of CBMM (which controls 85% of global niobium production), and investments in energy, agriculture and consumer goods including Havaianas sandals.

The current generation includes Pedro, who serves as co-chairman of Itaú Unibanco, and Fernando. João manages their $11 billion family office, while Walther Jr., a renowned filmmaker, ranks among the world’s wealthiest directors.

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