Verescence: a €60M investment in Hauts-de-France

Verescence: a succession of large investments in Hauts-de-France

Over a period of 120 years, Verescence has become the world leader in glass bottle manufacturing. It now has its sights set on becoming a global reference in the sustainable beauty industry. This goal is underpinned by “Verescence 2022 – Forming the future”, a €122M investment plan, of which €60M is earmarked for the company’s very first site in Mers-les Bains in Hauts-de-France. In real terms, the €60M cash injection for the region will allow the company to:

• Further modernise facilities to install Industry 4.0 high-tech equipment.
  

  “Digitalisation covers many areas including the rapid processing of production data, which is an important driver of performance. Similarly, the development of technological breakthroughs in our processes and products means increased competitiveness and added value for our customers and us.”

• Reduce the energy needs of the Mers-les-Bains plant, which will be equipped with a heat recovery system. This equipment makes it possible to recover and recycle rainwater. By reducing its water consumption, the site has become a dry factory and improved its environmental impact. This upgrade is also part of the company’s CSR policy, called “Glass Made to Last“.

Verescence, the official bottle-maker for Chanel, Yves Saint-Laurent and Hermès, had already benefited from  a €30 million investment in 2018 as part of the “Excellence 2018” plan.

Change of shareholder

The world leader in luxury perfumery/cosmetics bottles changed its main shareholder in 2019.  Stirling Square now owns the majority of the company’s shares, succeeding  Oaktree Capital Management (USA) whose funds it took over.

“We are happy to have Stirling Square Capital Partners as the new shareholders for the group, which enables us to accelerate our international expansion and launch the new Verescence 2022 – Forming the Future corporate plan – a project that comes with a massive investment of €122 million,”

said Thomas Riou, President of Verescence.

The group

Verescence is the world’s leading supplier of bottles for the perfume and cosmetics sectors. The company, which is more than 120 years old, has three manufacturing and four finishing plants around the world, two of which are located in Hauts-de-France: the brand’s original production plant in Mers-les-Bains and there is a finishing plant in Abbeville. The group produces a total of 500 million bottles per year and employs 2,300 people. Sources : Verescence, Usine nouvelle, Premium beauty News