Packaging giant Amcor could finalise its $7bn plus acquisition of US competitor Bemis this week, settling negotiations that run for around a year.
The deal could result in Amcor becoming the largest worldwide producer of flexible packaging, along with giving it a US listing. The Australian firm is currently in a trading halt on the ASX.
Amcor first approached Bemis around a year ago but the two businesses could not agree on a price.
Bemis, valued at around US$4.2bn, has 57 packaging plants across 12 countries, with an Australasian flexible packaging plant located on the Gold Coast. Bemis mostly operates within the US, making flexible and rigid plastic packaging materials for food, consumer and medical products.
In its half year results in February, Amcor reported it generated profits of US$329.7m, up 3.7 per cent on a constant currency basis from $308.6m the year before. Sales slipped 1.7 per cent on a constant currency basis the year before. Flexibles overall rose to $3.1bn from $3.09bn over the prior corresponding period, while rigid plastics dropped to $1.37bn from $1.33bn.
If settled, the acquisition will follow Amcor’s other purchases worldwide for the last decade including South American packaging group Alusa in 2016 for $567m and Alcan packaging for $1.9bn from Rio Tinto in 2009.
Five years ago, Amcor split its Australasian packaging and distribution into a separate company, Orora.
