Ardagh spins off metal business

Ardagh Group, parent of Dunkirk’s glass container manufacturing plant, has spun off its metal packaging business, merging it with a company owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

According to a piece in The Irish Times by Barry O’Halloran, Ardagh will receive $2.5 billion from its new partner Exal as part of the merger.

That money will then be used to pay down some of Ardagh’s estimated $8 billion in debt.

The merger between Ardagh’s metal packaging business and Exal was announced Monday. The result of the merger will be a new company known as Trivium.

Exal’s current owner, the teachers’ pension fund, will own 57 percent of the new company and Ardagh 43 percent.

Like its glass packaging business, which also includes a plant in Winchester, Ardagh’s metal packaging serves a variety of food, beverage and specialty customers, ranging from Coca-Cola to Heinekin.

The Irish Times reported that Trivium plans to borrow $2.75 billion, chiefly to fund the payout to Ardagh but also to refinance part of Exal’s existing debt.

The new venture must raise this cash as a condition of the deal going through. Regulators must also approve the merger, The Irish Times reported.

If all goes well, the deal is expected to be complete in the final quarter of 2019.

“Trivium will be based in the Netherlands and employ 7,800 people in 57 factories across Europe and the Americas. (Paul) Coulson, Ardagh’s chairman and chief executive, will chair the new business while Exal chief executive Michael Mapes will take that role at the venture,” said The Irish Times.

The merger is expected to save the two businesses an estimated $40 million a year in manufacturing costs.

Case dismissed

A patent case against Ardagh Glass has been dismissed by a federal appellate court.

The dismissal leaves in place an April 2017 jury verdict, according to US Glass News Network.

Green Mountain Glass had sued Ardagh, claiming the company infringed on two of its patents involving glass recycling. The 2017 verdict found in favor of Green Mountain Glass but only for one of the patents.

While the court ordered Ardagh to pay Green Mountain $50.3 million in damages, Green Mountain had sought extra damages and Ardagh had sought to have the verdict reversed.

A three-judge panel on the appellate court affirmed the jury’s decision and dismissed the case.

Classroom aid

Tyson Foods Inc., parent of Tyson Mexican Original of Portland, this week announced a $1 million commitment to DonorsChoose.org for classroom projects in 46 school districts, including Jay Schools.

Between Aug. 1 and Jan. 29, 2020, Tyson will fully fund projects posted by teachers in qualifying Tyson school districts who request up to $1,000 in classroom resources, a company press release stated.

“Funding will be applied towards projects the first Monday of every month, up to $26,388 for each plant community,” the company said. Already $50,000 has been allocated for the Springdale, Arkansas, school district, where Tyson’s headquarters is located.

“We have a responsibility to support our communities in a variety of ways, including equipping our teachers with the resources they need as an effective way to support education,” Debra Vernon, senior director, corporate social responsibility, Tyson Foods, said in a prepared statement.

“Through the DonorsChoose.org model teachers can focus on the individual needs of their classrooms and students can experience new or better ways to learn.”

To qualify for full funding, projects will need to be $1,000 or less, for Pre-K-12.

"We're so grateful for the generosity of Tyson Foods," DonorsChoose.org founder Charles Best said. "As teachers across Tyson communities gear up for the school year ahead and use DonorsChoose.org to request resources for their classroom, this support will help bring those classroom dreams to life."

The company’s first collaboration with DonorsChoose.org came in 2018.

Recalled

Altaire Pharmaceuticals Inc. this week announced it was recalling several over-the-counter eye products sold at CVS and Walgreens pharmacies over “a lack of sterility assurance.”

The CVS version of the products were sold as Opens a New Window.

Going forward

First Merchants Bank is moving ahead with a proposed $290.9 million acquisition of MBT Financial Corp. after reaching a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice after an Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act investigation.

MBT Financial is the parent company of Monroe Bank & Trust,  in northwest Indiana.

The DOJ had been looking into banking lending practices in the Indianapolis market, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.

As part of the settlement, First Merchants agreed to invest $1.12 billion in a loan subsidy fund that will offer up to $7,500 toward mortgage and home improvement loans in majority-black census tracts in Indianapolis. First Merchants also agreed to open a bank and loan production office in Indianapolis, and to spend at least $125,000 per year on marketing, community outreach, education and credit repair initiatives in majority-black census tracks in Indianapolis over the next four years, the newspaper reported.

“The settlement provides an opportunity for the bank to devote additional resources in serving the communities in which it operates, including helping meet the credit needs of all borrowers in those communities,” First Merchants President and CEO Michael Rechin said. 

Hirsute suit

A Jewish man is suing McDonald's, claiming it violated his freedom of religion when it refused to hire him in 2016, Newsweek reported.

The unnamed plaintiff is Hasidic and is required by his religious beliefs to let his beard and sideburns grow long. According to the lawsuit, the fast food company’s policy requires male employees to be clean-shaven.

“The would-be worker claims he offered to wear a beard net instead, but the manager wouldn't accept the compromise. Instead, he reportedly told the man (he) couldn't be hired if he was going to violate McDonald's company policy,” Newsweek reported.