Ardagh responds to Saint-Gobain plans to sell Verallia France

2014-12-17

Dec. 12. 2014 - Saint-Gobain is looking to sell Verallia France glass packaging company after selling Verallia North America to Ardagh.
The company said the announcement is the next logical step after the divestment of the North American business that was finalized in April 2014.
A formal bidding process for Verallia France, which reported sales of €2.435bn last year, will be launched based on second-half earnings, and is expected to reach an agreement with a buyer before summer 2015. 
A spokesman for Ardagh Group said it will be tracking the progress of the bidding.  “Ardagh will follow the Verallia process with some interest but it will not allow that process to disturb its IPO (Initial Public Offering) timeline,” he said. 
Ardagh Group announced its 2014 third quarter results last month, reporting revenue of €1,311, an increase of 16% compared to 2013, claiming growth in other market sectors ‘offset continued sluggishness in the beer sector’. 
The company completed the sale of six former Anchor Glass plants and certain related assets to an affiliate of KPS in June, recognising a net loss on disposal of €124m. 
It also completed the purchase of 100% of the equity of Verallia North America (VNA), from Compagnie de Saint Gobain in April for a consideration of $1.5bn on a cash and debt free basis. The integration of that company continues as planned. 
VNA, which has its HQ in Muncie, Indiana, is the second largest glass container manufacturer in the US, serving the North American F&B industries.