July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Verallia sale gets closer
Ardagh Group has made progress in negotiations with the Federal Trade Commission and hopes to complete its acquisition of Verallia North America by mid-January of 2014.
The Luxembourg-based company said today that as part of its negotiations with the FTC it will “amend the package of plants it is currently selling. Any such sale will need to be approved by the FTC prior to any settlement being finalized.”
In September, Ardagh said it was willing to sell off two of its glass container plants and two of Verallia’s in order to allay FTC concerns that the deal would be anti-competitive for the glass bottle industry.
Verallia’s plant in Dunkirk produces about 2.5 million longneck beer bottles per day and has been the focus of major capital investment over the past 15 years.
Saint-Gobain, parent company of Verallia, accepted an offer from Ardagh in January to sell off its glass container businesss for about $1.7 billion.
That drew objections in July from the FTC, which issued an administrative order seeking to block the sale.
Responding to those objections, Ardagh announced plans to sell its glass container plants in Jacksonville, Fla., and Warner Robins, Ga. It would also sell Verallia’s plants in Dolton, Ill., and Wilson, N.C. By doing so, it would create a new, stand-alone four-plant operation that would compete with Ardagh.
“Ardagh has agreed not to close its acquisition of (Verallia) until either the commission has approved a settlement or a decision on the merits is reached in the administrative litigation,” the company said today. “As a result of this agreement, the lawsuit filed by the FTC in federal district court has been stayed and the preliminary injunction hearing has been cancelled.”
An administrative proceeding on the FTC’s objections has not been stayed and is set for trial on Dec. 19.
Ardagh was founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 1932 as the Irish Glass Bottle Company. It operates 100 manufacturing plants in 25 countries and employs about 18,000. It has annual sales of about $5.4 billion.[[In-content Ad]]
The Luxembourg-based company said today that as part of its negotiations with the FTC it will “amend the package of plants it is currently selling. Any such sale will need to be approved by the FTC prior to any settlement being finalized.”
In September, Ardagh said it was willing to sell off two of its glass container plants and two of Verallia’s in order to allay FTC concerns that the deal would be anti-competitive for the glass bottle industry.
Verallia’s plant in Dunkirk produces about 2.5 million longneck beer bottles per day and has been the focus of major capital investment over the past 15 years.
Saint-Gobain, parent company of Verallia, accepted an offer from Ardagh in January to sell off its glass container businesss for about $1.7 billion.
That drew objections in July from the FTC, which issued an administrative order seeking to block the sale.
Responding to those objections, Ardagh announced plans to sell its glass container plants in Jacksonville, Fla., and Warner Robins, Ga. It would also sell Verallia’s plants in Dolton, Ill., and Wilson, N.C. By doing so, it would create a new, stand-alone four-plant operation that would compete with Ardagh.
“Ardagh has agreed not to close its acquisition of (Verallia) until either the commission has approved a settlement or a decision on the merits is reached in the administrative litigation,” the company said today. “As a result of this agreement, the lawsuit filed by the FTC in federal district court has been stayed and the preliminary injunction hearing has been cancelled.”
An administrative proceeding on the FTC’s objections has not been stayed and is set for trial on Dec. 19.
Ardagh was founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 1932 as the Irish Glass Bottle Company. It operates 100 manufacturing plants in 25 countries and employs about 18,000. It has annual sales of about $5.4 billion.[[In-content Ad]]
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