US: Ardagh agrees Trivium over $2.5b partnership with Exal

Glass and metal packaging giant Ardagh announced it had agreed a deal with Exal to form a global metal packaging producer under the Trivium banner, reported the Financial Times.

The new company, Trivium, will be 43% owned by Ardagh, while Exal’s parent, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, will hold the remaining 57%. The deal comes two years after Ardagh, once a small Irish glass bottle maker, first floated its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. It has grown rapidly under Irish tycoon Paul Coulson, its chairman and chief executive, who acquired an initial stake in 1998.

The transformation of the one-time struggling minnow has catapulted Mr Coulson, a former accountant nicknamed “The Cooler,” into a position as one of Ireland’s richest men. Trivium, which will be led by Exal chief executive Michael Mapes, will be headquartered in the Netherlands and will operate 57 production plants, mainly in Europe and the Americas, employing 7,800 people. It had pro forma revenues of US$2.7 billion in the year to March, and adjusted earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation of US$496 million.