US: Ball to sell beverage-can assets to Ardagh for $3.42 billion

Ball Corp. and Rexam  agreed to sell $3.42 billion of assets to clear the way for their merger into the biggest maker of food and beverage cans.

Ball will sell 17 can factories in the US, Europe and Brazil, plus other facilities to European glass and metal packaging company Ardagh Group SA, according to a statement Monday. Ardagh will issue $2.85 billion of bonds to help finance its purchase of the assets, the company said in a separate e-mail.

The European Union approved Broomfield, Colorado-based Ball’s $6.4 billion acquisition of Rexam after the company agreed to sell 12 plants on the continent to eliminate antitrust concerns. Apollo Global Management, Blackstone Group LP and Madison Dearborn Partners were also among bidders for the assets.

“You feel it ticks everybody’s box,” said Sandy Morris, a London-based analyst at Jefferies International. “Until we know which plants precisely have been divested — whether they’re standard cans or specialty cans — it will be difficult for us to judge who’s come out of it with the best deal.”

Full Content: Reuters

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