Ardagh buys aluminium can producer for €85m

PACKAGING COMPANY Ardagh has acquired the European division of Exal Corporation, the world’s biggest aluminium can producer, for €85 million.

The acquisition of the Boxal group of companies, which are owned by Exal, will mark Ardagh’s first foray into the European aluminium can market. Ardagh, which makes glass and metal containers for some of the world’s best-known food and consumer products, currently operates an aluminium can business in Australia.

The Dublin-based company will acquire two aluminium can plants in France and the Netherlands as part of the deal, as well as Exal’s share in a slug-making (aluminium stamped disc) joint venture in France, and its Hungarian business, Boxal Hungary.

Exal, which is retaining its aluminium slug-making operation in Switzerland, said the disposal would allow it to expand its presence in Latin America. The company entered the European market in 2004 when it acquired Boxal from Alcan Packaging.

Ardagh’s acquisition of the Boxal Group is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be finalised in the first half of this year.

Ardagh, which is controlled by Irish businessman Paul Coulson, confirmed in August that it was to defer its planned flotation on the New York stock exchange due to market volatility. According to a spokesman for the company yesterday, that position still stands.

Ardagh also indicated in September that it was continuing to look at potential acquisitions.

The Boxal acquisition is the latest in a number of acquisitions completed by the group over the past year or so.

Most significantly, the company completed the acquisition of Impress, Europe’s second largest can manufacturer, in January last year, marking the glass company’s expansion into the metal packaging business and nearly trebling the group’s size.

The €1.7 billion acquisition of Impress, which manufactures cans for household names such as John West, Del Monte, Crown Paints and Procter Gamble, was funded through debt.

The Impress deal was followed by the acquisition of an Italian can maker, Fi Par, in March for an estimated €125 million.

Ardagh, which has its origins in the Irish Glass Bottle company and was formerly listed on the Irish stock exchange, went private in 2002. It subsequently sold the now infamous glass bottle site in Ringsend, Dublin to a consortium of investors for €412 million in 2006.

While the Ardagh Group is controlled by Paul Coulson, the group’s biggest shareholder, its investors also include financial institutions and private individuals.

The Ardagh Group makes metal and glass containers for some of the world’s leading food, beverage and consumer products and employs 14,000 people worldwide. The company, which is headed up by chief executive and shareholder Niall Wall, operates 88 manufacturing plants in 25 countries, and has an annual sales of more than €3.2 billion.

In the three months ended June 30th, Ardagh had sales of €854 million and earned pretax profits of €49.7 million. Its earnings before tax, interest and write-offs came to €156.5 million.