FTC approves Ball Corp.’s acquisition of Rexam Plc

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved the acquisition of Rexam Plc by Ball Corp. following Ball’s decision to sell eight of its U.S. aluminum can plants and associated assets to Irelands-based Ardagh Group S.A. for about $3.42 billion. According to the FTC, the sale settles claims that Ball’s proposed acquisition of Rexam Plc would create an anti-competitive environment.

European and Brazilian authorities approved the acquisition earlier in June.

According to the FTC complaint, without the sale of the eight can plants, the acquisition would eliminate direct competition in the United States between Colorado-based Ball and United Kingdom-based Rexam, which are the two largest aluminum beverage can manufacturers in the world. The FTC complaint alleges that without a divestiture, it would have been likely that the proposed merger would substantially reduce competition for standard 12-ounce aluminum cans in three regional U.S. markets – the South and Southeast, the Midwest and the West.

The can plants that have been sold to Ardagh are in Fairfield, California; Chicago; Whitehouse and Fremont, Ohio; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Bishopville, South Carolina; and Olive Branch, Mississippi; and Rexam’s aluminum can end plant in Valparaiso, Indiana. Ardagh also will acquire Rexam’s U.S. headquarters in Chicago and U.S. Technical Center in Elk Grove, Illinois.

Upon closing the proposed offer for Rexam PLC, Ball will operate 16 existing metal beverage packaging manufacturing plants in North America; its Rocky Mountain Metal Container joint venture in Golden, Colorado; and Rexam's beverage can manufacturing plants in Phoenix, Arizona; Chatsworth, California; St Paul, Minnesota; Longview, Texas; Kent, Washington; and Queretaro, Mexico; end manufacturing plant in Birmingham, Alabama; and joint ventures in Amatitlan, Guatemala and Cristobal, Panama.

The North and Central America regional office and innovation center will operate from Ball's existing Westminster, Colorado, locations.