Showa Aluminum Can Corporation has entered into a series of definitive agreements to acquire the Aluminum Rolled & Extruded Products Business of Mitsubishi Aluminum Co.

Mitsubishi Aluminium Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a Japanese leading producer of diversified advanced materials, and all of the shares of Universal Can Corporation, which is engaged in the manufacturing of aluminum beverage cans, from its current shareholders Mitsubishi Materials and Hokkan Holdings Limited, a Japanese leading packaging group.

The transaction presents a transformational opportunity for Showa Aluminum to become an integrated, value-added aluminum engineering and packaging group. Apollo will leverage its global expertise in both the aluminum and packaging industries to help the businesses further enhance their value proposition and growth, including in the sustainable aluminum packaging sector.   

For Apollo, the transaction demonstrates its investment thesis to grow Showa Aluminum’s business in the region, including inorganic growth through add-on transactions. It is also representative of Apollo’s increasing private equity activity in Japan and is the third major corporate carveout transaction for Apollo Funds completed or announced this year.

Tetsuji Okamoto, Partner and Head of Japan Private Equity at Apollo, said: “This transaction will bring together two highly complementary businesses, each with a proud heritage of providing high-quality aluminum products to a variety of end-markets and customers. We are also pleased to have worked with Mitsubishi Materials to structure a carve-out that meets their business portfolio transformation needs.”