Lewis Silkin advises France-based Raja Group on acquisition of Morplan, mail order distributor to UK’s retail and fashion industry

Lewis Silkin has advised France-based Raja Group, the leading European industrial packaging distributor, on its acquisition of Morplan, the number one B2B mail order distributor to UK’s retail and fashion industry.

This acquisition enables the Raja Group, which has a presence in fifteen European countries, to double its level of activity in the UK market and to gain access to new product expertise and customers. The transaction offers prospective commercial and operational synergies between the company’s existing UK subsidiary, Rajapack, and Morplan with the latter generating sales of 25 million Euros and employing circa 120 employees. Through a multi-channel strategy Morplan offers 5000 products through a 500-page catalogue and has three outlets in London, Glasgow and Bristol as well as an online presence and dedicated key account sales team.

The Raja Group has acquired Morplan from the Rétif Group, a French company and Europe’s leading supplier of retail equipment, owned by the Private Equity companies Verdoso, Pragma-Capital, LGT and Idinvest.

For this transaction, the Lewis Silkin team was led by Corporate Tax senior associate Matthew Rowbotham and Corporate associate Susie Jarrold.