Packager strategies: purchases and sales
Kansas in the latest move by the company to get closer to its
customers.
The company's latest acquisition from Atlanta-based Consolidated Container, announced this week, supplies blow-molded plastic packaging for food and beverage companies. ConsolidatedContainer's customers include Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola North America and Quaker Oats.
Graham Packaging plans to maintain existing production levels at the plant. The company said the purchase would increase Graham Packaging's ability to supply Procter & Gamble with new kinds ofcontainers. Graham Packaging has been supplying Procter & Gamble with plastic bottles for the past 25 years.
"This solidifies our excellent relationship with Procter & Gamble and demonstrates our commitment to supporting its strategic goals and growth," the company said about the newacquisition.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In October 2004, Graham Packaging doubled in size with a $1.2bn purchase of Owens-Illinois Inc.'s plastics business. The company saidits purchase of the I-O plastics unit last year had expanded the resources it is able to commit to support large customers such as Procter & Gamble.
Graham Packaging had net sales of $1.35bn in 2004 and a net loss of $40.6m. The company makes blow-molded plastic containers for the food and beverage, household, personal care and specialtyand automotive lubricants markets. The company has 90 plants in 16 countries. The Blackstone Group of New York is the majority owner of Graham Packaging.
Pactiv focuses on consumer and food business Pactiv announced yesterday an agreement to sell substantially all of its North American and European protective and flexible packaging businesses and said it would concentrate on the consumer,foodservice and food packaging business.
"The sale of these businesses represents an important step in Pactiv's strategy to grow its higher return consumer, foodservice, and food packaging businesses," said RichardWambold, the company's chairman and chief executive officer.
The divested businesses make cushioning, air padded mailers, foam, honeycomb, flexible packaging and hospital supplies. In 2004 the businesses had sales of $838m and operating income of $60mexcluding restructuring and other charges. They are being sold to an affiliate of AEA Investors, an international private equity firm, for about $530m and the assumption of debt.
Pactiv will keep its European molded fibre business and Asian operations, which had been part of its protective and flexible packaging division.The company had sales of $3.4bn in 2004. Pactiv makes specialty packaging and derives about 80 per cent of its sales from market sectors in which it is either the number one or the number two playerin the market.
Barry-Wehmiller to buy Paper Converting Machine US-based Paper Converting Machine said this week that it has signed of letter of intent to be acquired by St. Louis-based Barry-Wehmiller.
Paper Converting manufactures tissue converting equipment, packaging machinery, flexographic printing presses, nonwovens machinery and specialised converting machinery. The company has 1,200employees worldwide. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Barry-Wehmiller focuses on packaging automation equipment, corrugating and sheeting equipment, and IT and engineering consulting. Thecompany has 2,800 employees worldwide.
The deal represents the largest acquisition in the company's history and is its 31st acquisition since 1987, Barry-Wehmiller said in a statement.
The company expects to increase annual revenues to about $750m through the acquisition. About $200m of the revenues was earned in global markets.
