Ardagh Group has agreed the purchase of Verallia North America (VNA) from Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. The Luxembourg-based Irish-controlled packaging giant is to buy the US glass bottle-and-jar business of Paris-based Saint Gobain for about $1.7 billion (€1.275 billion).
The acquisition values VNA, the second-largest glass container manufacturer in the US, at 6.5 times 2012 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $261 million, Saint Gobain said. The Indiana based company caters for the North American wine, food and beverage industries, producing about 9 billion containers annually from its 13 facilities across the US. Employing 4,400 staff, VNA had an estimated revenue of $1.62 million in 2012.
The binding and irrevocable deal is "another important milestone in the evolution of Ardagh", according to chairman Paul Coulson, "The transaction would increase the size of our glass business globally by almost 60 per cent and be a very significant step in developing our operations in the US. It would result in approximately 40 per cent of Ardagh Group’s total sales and EBITDA being generated in the US.” (14 Jan)
© 2013 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine by Gordon Hunt
