30 September 2003
First Islamic Investment Bank EC (FIIB) announced yesterday that it and its co-investors have acquired a substantial interest in American Pad and Paper (APP), one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of paper-based office products in the US, after taking it out of the chapter 11 reorganisation process.
Headquartered in Plano, near Dallas, Texas, APP was founded in 1888 by the inventor of the ruled legal pad and has since become one of the leading US suppliers of writing pads and notebooks, filing supplies, retail envelopes and speciality papers. Atif A. Abdulmalik, FIIB chief executive officer, said: “We’re projecting attractive returns for our investors due to the fact that we paid a relatively low EBITDA multiple... we believe that the company has a significant free cash-flow generation capability at an attractive price and will allow us to further diversify our investment portfolio.”
Mohammed A. Nooruddin, executive director, investment placement, said: “We’ve identified an experienced senior-management team with proven capabilities in rejuvenating under-managed companies. We believe that APP has multiple opportunities for sales growth and cost rationalisation, allowing the company to achieve improved financial performance over a relatively short period.”
First Islamic Investment Bank EC (FIIB) announced yesterday that it and its co-investors have acquired a substantial interest in American Pad and Paper (APP), one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of paper-based office products in the US, after taking it out of the chapter 11 reorganisation process.
Headquartered in Plano, near Dallas, Texas, APP was founded in 1888 by the inventor of the ruled legal pad and has since become one of the leading US suppliers of writing pads and notebooks, filing supplies, retail envelopes and speciality papers. Atif A. Abdulmalik, FIIB chief executive officer, said: “We’re projecting attractive returns for our investors due to the fact that we paid a relatively low EBITDA multiple... we believe that the company has a significant free cash-flow generation capability at an attractive price and will allow us to further diversify our investment portfolio.”
Mohammed A. Nooruddin, executive director, investment placement, said: “We’ve identified an experienced senior-management team with proven capabilities in rejuvenating under-managed companies. We believe that APP has multiple opportunities for sales growth and cost rationalisation, allowing the company to achieve improved financial performance over a relatively short period.”
© Bahrain Tribune 2003
