rg-base manufacturer of glass and metal packaging, the Ardagh Group, is to sell six US productions sites to comply the terms of an agreement with the US mergers watchdog, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Last week Ardagh completed its €1.3 billion purchase of rival packaging group Verallia North America (of Saint Gobain) based on the condition that it offload six manufacturing plants belonging to a Florida-based subsidiary, Anchor Glass, which bought in 2012 for €720 million.
In July 2013, the FTC filed suit in a federal district court to halt the proposed acquisition on the grounds that an entity made up of the combined Ardagh/Saint-Gobain and Owens-Illinois, Inc. will control about 85% of the glass container market for brewers, and 77% of the market for distillers. This would reduce competition, likely resulting in higher prices for customers of beer or spirits glass containers, according to the commission.
Deborah Feinstein, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said: “The proposed order creates a strong, independent third competitor that fully replaces the competition—in both the beer and spirits glass container markets—that would have been lost had the merger proceeded.”
The six plants are located in: Elmira, N.Y; Jacksonville, Fla.; Warner Robins, Ga.; Henryetta, Okla.; Lawrenceburg, Ind.; and Shakopee, Minn. Ardagh also has to sell Anchor’s former corporate headquarters in Tampa.
Globally, Ardagh will now operate from over 100 locations in 24 countries, employing 20,000 people with global sales of some €4.8 billion.
