Latest news with #Ardagh
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crown Holdings, Inc. (CCK): A Bull Case Theory
We came across a bullish thesis on Crown Holdings, Inc. on by Hal. In this article, we will summarize the bulls' thesis on CCK. Crown Holdings, Inc. 's share was trading at $103.50 as of June 27th. CCK's trailing and forward P/E were 22.31 and 15.50 respectively according to Yahoo Finance. A high-speed robotic arm carefully packing aluminum cans into a cardboard carton. Crown Holdings, named after the iconic 'crown cork' bottle cap invented in 1892, has evolved into a leading global producer of aluminium beverage cans, which now account for 80% of its profit contribution. Operating 70 can factories globally, Crown supplies major beverage segments including soda, beer, energy drinks, and seltzers. Despite the commodity-like nature of cans, Crown earns robust 14% EBITA margins and a 35% pre-tax return on tangible capital, thanks to a durable moat built on geographic advantages and rational industry behavior. The high logistical costs of transporting empty cans over long distances, combined with high upfront capital costs and local market saturation, discourage new entrants and protect market share. The industry is also highly consolidated, with Crown, Ball, and Ardagh dominating North America. Competitors like Ball adhere to disciplined capital allocation frameworks, ensuring rational growth and limited oversupply. Crown's customer relationships are sticky, with 90%+ retention supported by multi-year contracts and embedded operational linkages. The shift back to aluminium—driven by recyclability and premium positioning—has revived can volume growth after decades of stagnation, especially with rising demand for energy drinks and seltzers. Crown's positioning in high-growth regions like Southeast Asia further strengthens its outlook. Despite recent demand fluctuations post-COVID and softness in Asia, Crown is shedding underperforming assets and sharpening its focus on cans. Valuation appears attractive with a 13.5–14x forward P/E and 6.5% FCF yield, trading at a discount to peers. While not reliant on a specific catalyst, Crown offers a compelling case for re-rating based on fundamentals and market structure. Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on PepsiCo, Inc. by Kroker Equity Research in October 2024, which highlighted the company's strong brand portfolio, pricing power, and strategic partnership with Celsius as key growth drivers. The company's stock price has depreciated by approximately 25% since our coverage. This is because the thesis hasn't played out amid sector-wide headwinds. Hal shares a similar view on industry resilience but emphasizes the upstream opportunity in aluminium beverage cans through Crown Holdings. CCK isn't on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of CCK as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock. Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información
Extra.ie
08-07-2025
- Business
- Extra.ie
Cancer survivors to get equal access to protection on their mortgages
Ministers are expected to sign off on long-awaited legislation to give cancer survivors equal access to mortgage protection. The Cabinet is set to green-light a proposal, first introduced by then-Senator Catherine Ardagh in 2022, that will enshrine the 'right to be forgotten' for survivors when accessing mortgage insurance policies. Today's top videos STORY CONTINUES BELOW Fianna Fáil TD Ms Ardagh told yesterday she is 'delighted' to see the proposal being adopted by the Government. Catherine Ardagh. Pic: Tom Honan 'It will mean potentially thousands of cancer survivors each year will no longer be at the whim of insurance companies, and there will be full equality when it comes to accessing financial products and services,' she said. The law, which the Coalition committed to passing in the Programme for Government, will prohibit insurers from discriminating against people who have been in remission from cancer for seven years, or five for people diagnosed in childhood. While Ms Ardagh's legislation pertains to financial products at large, the Government will 'substantially' amend the laws to focus on mortgage protection insurance, in line with EU best practice. Mortgage Protection. Pic: Getty Images 'This route provides the most efficient and effective way to deliver this important legislation within a realistic legislative window, building on the work to date carried out by Deputy Ardagh,' a Government source said. Minister of State for Insurance Reform Robert Troy said last week he is hopeful the legislation can be introduced before the summer recess. Research from the Irish Cancer Society, published in February 2022, shows that people affected by cancer reported difficulty at a 'significantly higher rate than the general population' when it came to buying financial products and services. The group highlighted difficulties in accessing income protection, travel insurance and mortgage insurance. Pic: Getty Images 'Overall, the difficulties may suggest significant challenges in becoming a homeowner,' the report stated. 'To illustrate, one quarter of those affected by cancer had difficulties obtaining an owner-occupier mortgage, compared to 11% in the general population. Over one in three affected by cancer had difficulty getting life insurance, compared to 10% in the general population.' The legislation was first introduced by Ms Ardagh during the last Seanad term to enshrine survivors' right to be forgotten and was co-signed by Jerry Buttimer of Fine Gael and Paul Gavan of Sinn Féin. But the laws were met with opposition from the insurance industry, with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe effectively killing the legislation after providers warned it could lead to 'detrimental effects for other customers'. Paschal Donohoe. Pic: Leah Farrell/ In 2023, Insurance Ireland rolled out a code of practice asking insurers to ignore cancer diagnoses if a treatment ended over seven years ago. Ms Ardagh said the legislation will enforce the voluntary code on a statutory basis and that its passage is 'overdue'. 'Right now, people who have beaten cancer and have been in remission for years are still being penalised when they apply for financial products such as insurance. This Bill aims to change that,' she told the Dáil in February, when she reintroduced the legal amendment. She added: 'While our healthcare system has made great progress with survival rates increasing year on year, our financial system has not kept pace. Every year, approximately 44,000 people here are diagnosed with cancer. Thanks to advances in treatment… 60% will survive beyond five years. 'These people have already fought one of the hardest battles imaginable, yet many find themselves being refused products or being charged excessive premiums because they once had cancer. That is neither right nor fair.' It is understood that a memo to give way to the legislation will be brought forward under Mr Donohoe's name, recommending that Government time be used to progress the Bill. Once Cabinet has agreed to 'adopt and substantially amend' the Bill, the Department of Finance will work with the Attorney General's Office 'to ensure it is fully compliant with EU law and operationally viable'.
Irish Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Meet Paul ‘the Cooler' Coulson: One of the godfathers of leveraged finance
Why would bondholders offer to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to shareholders in a business set to wipe out some of its debt in a restructuring? In the case of Dublin-based Ardagh , the answer may lie in the man set across the table: a steely septuagenarian businessman nicknamed 'the Cooler'. Bondholders at the drinks-container maker are considering a demand from Ardagh's largest shareholder Paul Coulson to hand over $300 million (€255 million) to shareholders, in exchange for them walking away from the business and ceding control. The tough negotiating position comes after an early $250 million offer from these debtholders – mostly credit hedge funds – was roundly rejected. READ MORE While Coulson may at first glance appear to be a mere packaging mogul, it makes more sense to understand his stock and trade as debt. [ Paul Coulson faces last stand in battle to retain control of Ardagh Opens in new window ] Coulson is widely regarded as one of the godfathers of the European high-yield bond market. Ardagh has issued billions of dollars of junk bonds over the decades, forging new financial structures while minting healthy bonuses for his loyal bankers at Citigroup. And naturally, Coulson himself became a billionaire along the way, with the value of his Ardagh stake making him one of the richest people in Ireland. An accountant by training, the Cooler entered the glass business through the unconventional route of a structured finance play gone awry. Many in the Irish business scene counted him down and out when a disastrous deal blew up his aircraft leasing business in the 1990s. But Coulson was able to parlay a seemingly long-shot lawsuit against the bank that advised him on the transaction into a multi-million payout. The buccaneering Irishman ploughed the winnings into a humble Irish glass bottler (the Irish Glass Bottle company in Ringsend). Through shrewd deal making – and liberal use of leverage – Ardagh became one of the largest beer bottle and can makers in the world. Ardagh's capital structure has long been fiendishly complicated and in a constant state of flux. At the height of quantitative easing, Coulson broke new ground in the field of financial engineering by issuing 'super PIK' bonds that paid Ardagh shareholders a handsome dividend. Even as Ardagh's troubles have grown, Coulson's propensity for financial complexity has remained intact. Last year the company struck a controversial €1 billion loan from private capital powerhouse Apollo that shifted assets away from other creditors. While the proposal on the table means Coulson would have to bid adieu to the glass business he forged over decades, he would be in line for more than a third of the $300 million windfall if it comes off. Not a bad outcome for the owner of a business drowning in more than $10 billion of debt that it won't be able to fully repay. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Paul Coulson offered $250m to exit Ardagh Group
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. Coulson will receive a one-time payment of approximately $250m in exchange for Ardagh's glass business and his majority stake in the metal unit. The decision follows intense negotiations with creditors to resolve Ardagh's substantial debt, which includes approximately $12.5bn in borrowings. 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. 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. Bloomberg 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. 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. Ardagh currently holds a 76% stake in the New York-listed AMP. 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. 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. AMP's revenues increased by 11% year-on-year in the first quarter, reaching $1.27bn, prompting an upward revision of its full-year earnings forecast. In contrast, Ardagh's legacy glass business experienced a 6.7% revenue decline to $961m in the same quarter, continuing its struggle. 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's 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. "Paul Coulson offered $250m to exit Ardagh Group" was originally created and published by Packaging Gateway, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Irish Independent
20-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Ardagh quits debt talks after lenders push for bigger equity stake
Under a plan first outlined in March, a group of unsecured bondholders were expected to take over Ardagh's glass-packaging operations in exchange for a write-down on what they are owned. They'd also receive $784m of preferred equity. The creditors were to provide fresh financing and crucially get a stake in Ardagh's metal-packaging arm, which is listed in the US and produces cans for the drinks industry. The US stock market listed shares own 24pc of the cans side of the business. Under the terms that had been under discussion between Ardagh and the lenders since March the remaining 76pc stake in the cans unit would be divided 80:20 between Paul Coulson and the unsecured bondholders. However, on May 18th s a modified proposal from the senior unsecured Ardagh bondholders pushed changes including for a 60:40 split of the canning business stake. Ardagh on Tuesday said Paul Coulson, as majority shareholder, had rejected that proposal. "The parties were unable to reach an agreement and have concluded negotiations at this time. The company remains committed to putting in place a sustainable capital structure. The company will continue to review its options and may continue discussions with its financial stakeholders in the future relating to its capital structure and its applicable debt maturities,' Ardagh said. The restructuring negotiations involve Coulson and Ardagh, a lender group dubbed the SUN bondholders who own most the Ardagh's Senior Unsecured Notes plus some Senior Secured Notes and a second lender group dubbed the SNN bondholders who own a majority of Ardagh's higher ranked Senior Secured Notes plus some unsecured notes. Rejection by Ardagh of the SUN group's latest demands is likely to see the firm shift focus to trying to cut an alternative deal with the better secured SNN lender group who'd have been largely unaffected by the proposed deal with the Sun group, with their debt to be reinstated in part into new debt instead of riskier equity. While a debt deal is widely seen as necessary to address the scale of Ardagh's borrowings a hard deadline to concentrate minds is likely to be some way off, with no major debt repayments falling due until August 2026. Ardagh Group had cash and available liquidity at March 31, 2025, of over $1.1bn. The debt talks have no impact on day to day operations at any of the group's operations. The group had $10.6bn (€9.7bn) of consolidated debt as of end of last year, although only part of it was subject to the restructuring. The March deal from the unsecured bondholders' group had the support in principle of Paul Coulson and looked to be moving towards a consensual restructuring transaction. The group of unsecured creditors is being advised by PJT Partners Inc and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. The secured creditors are working with Perella Weinberg Partners and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
