Ball to buy Aerocan
Ball Corporation has agreed to acquire Aerocan – a manufacturer of aluminium aerosol cans, bottles and slugs – in a €221 million ($292m) deal which includes debt and other liabilities.
The US can making company has signed a definitive agreement with Barclays Private Equity to acquire Aerocan, with the acquisition expected to close during the first quarter of 2011.
Aerocan manufactures aluminium aerosol cans and bottles, and aluminium slugs used to make them, for customers in the personal care, pharmaceutical, beverage and food industries. It operates three aerosol can manufacturing plants – in Velim, Czech Republic; Bellegarde, France; and Devizes, United Kingdom – and is a 51 per cent owner of a joint venture aluminium slug plant in Beaurepaire, France. The four plants employ approximately 480 people.
“This is an important strategic step for our company, as it allows us to enter a growing segment of the metal packaging world where we can broaden our market development efforts into a new customer base,” says John Hayes (pictured), Ball Corporation’s president and chief operating officer. “Acquiring Aerocan, like the purchase of Neuman Aluminium in the US earlier this year, is aligned with our strategy of expanding our product portfolio and manufacturing capabilities while leveraging our extensive operational expertise in our global metal packaging businesses.”
