Ardagh Makes $1.69 Billion Offer for Verallia Unit
01/14/2013| 02:56am US/Eastern
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PARIS--Glass and metal packaging company Ardagh Glass Ltd. has made a "binding and irrevocable" offer of $1.69 billion for the North American unit of Verallia, the maker of glass bottles and jars that belongs to French conglomerate Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA (>> SAINT GOBAIN), both companies said Monday in separate statements.
"If the deal is completed, the sale proceeds will be used mainly to strengthen the Group's balance sheet, while pursuing its acquisition policy focused on small- or medium-sized targets," Saint-Gobain's Chief Executive Pierre-Andre de Chalendar said in the statement.
Verallia North America, the second largest glass packaging maker in the U.S. after Owens Illinois Inc. (>> Owens-Illinois, Inc.), posted an operating profit of $171 million in 2012 from a $1.62 billion revenue, Saint Gobain said in its statement.
Saint-Gobain will make a decision on the offer after the company consults its personnel. The transaction will be subject to the authorization of U.S. anti-trust regulators.
In 2011, the French company had announced a plan to spin off Verallia through an initial public offering, though its management later decided to shelve the plan as market conditions weren't favorable.
-Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@dowjones.com
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