— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA, Abu Dhabi, UAE; www.adia.ae) has sold its 50% interest in container service provider Ifco (Pullach, Germany; www.ifco.com). The new owner is US finance investor Stonepeak (New York, New York; www.stonepeak.com), a specialist in infrastructure and real estate investment. The companies did not provide details of the purchase price. German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports, with reference to financial circles, that Ifco had been valued in the course of the transaction at just under EUR 5.5 bn.

In 2019, ADIA had taken over half the Ifco shares from Australian logistics company Brambles (Sydney, www.brambles.com) for around USD 2.5 bn (EUR 2.15 bn). The other half went at the time to German-Swedish investment firm Triton Partners (Frankfurt, Germany; www.triton-partners.com), which still owns its share.

Related: Emirati investor ADIA considers sale of stake in plastic container provider

Ifco was founded in 1992 and today operates a global logistics system with over 400 mn reusable plastic packs. With these, the company processes and transports around 2.5 bn consignments of fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables, and other perishable goods every year from the producer to the retailer. The network covers some 140 service centres worldwide, in which the reusable containers are cleaned and maintained. With around 2,000 employees, Ifco looks after more than 300 retailers and 18,000 producers in over 50 countries.

“With its strong and growing presence in North America, Ifco fits outstandingly well into our infrastructure investment strategy in this region,” said Nikolaus Woloszczuk, senior managing director of Stonepeak. Completion of the transaction is subject to the usual regulatory approvals and is expected to go through in Q4 2025.

— Translated by Jon Relton