Bemis to acquire Alcan Packaging Food Americas

Flexible packager Bemis Co. Inc. will spend US$1.2 billion to acquire the Food Americas business of Alcan Packaging, of Chicago, from Rio Tinto plc.

The move, announced July 6, is expected to close by the end of the year and will boost the Neenah, Wis.-based Bemis’s annual sales from US$3.8 billion to US$5.3 billion. The acquisition covers 23 flexible packaging plants, including 15 in the U.S.  

According to Bemis officials, US$1 billion of the purchase price will come from debt financing and US$200 million from equity in the form of common stock or funds raised from a stock offering.

Upon completion of the deal, Bemis will generate approximately 70 per cent of its sales from food and beverage packaging, 18 per cent from non-food packaging and, 12 per cent from pressure-sensitive materials.

The deal also will give Bemis new expertise in crystalline PET trays and aluminum foil, Bemis president and CEO Henry Thiesen said in a statement

“Alcan has done pretty well in a difficult market in the last couple of years,” he said, adding that Bemis’s total resin purchase, including polyethylene “will increase dramatically” after the acquisition.