Owens-Illinois, Inc. announced 21 June 2004 that it has completed the acquisition of BSN Glasspack, S.A., the second largest glass container manufacturer in Europe, from Glasspack Participations, a co…
Owens-Illinois, Inc. announced 21 June 2004 that it has completed the acquisition of BSN Glasspack, S.A., the second largest glass container manufacturer in Europe, from Glasspack Participations, a company controlled by investment funds advised by CVC Capital Partners. As announced on 10 June 2004, the Owens-Illinois received its final regulatory approval from the European Commission after committing to divest two plants, located in Barcelona, Spain, and Corsico, Italy, as part of the transaction. Until these plants are sold, they will be held separately from Owens-Illinois“ assets and will be managed under the supervision of an independent trustee. Total consideration for the acquisition was approximately EUR 1,160 million (USD 1,400 million), including the assumption of debt. Owens-Illinois expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings and cash flow in the first year without synergy savings. Owens-Illinois expects synergy savings of more than EUR 60 million (USD 72 million) annually, to be achieved by the end of the third full year. “We are proud to officially welcome BSN to the Owens-Illinois family as we combine to create the largest glass container manufacturer on four continents,” said Steve McCracken, Owens-Illinois Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are determined to execute our integration plan swiftly and efficiently in leveraging these valuable added capabilities.” In 2003, BSN had net sales of approximately USD 1.5 billion, which compares to the company“s North American glass sales in 2003 of approximately USD 1.8 billion. The acquisition increases Owens-Illinois“ European presence by adding 18 glass container plants to make a total of 39 facilities with 84 furnaces and 248 production lines, and approximately 9,000 employees. Owens-Illinois also announced that its subsidiary ACI Packaging has completed the sale of a substantive part of its plastics packaging business in Australia and New Zealand to Visy Industrial Plastics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Visy Industrial Packaging, for approximately USD 50 million. Cash proceeds will be used to repay bank debt.