Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE: BMS) completed its acquisition of Alcan Packaging Food Americas from Rio Tinto plc on March 1, 2010, for $1.2 billion in cash. The transaction, negotiated through an amended sale and purchase agreement signed February 26, 2010, transferred 23 flexible packaging facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and New Zealand that generated approximately $1.4 billion in net sales during 2009.
The acquired plants produce flexible packaging primarily for food and beverage customers, augmenting Bemis's polymer chemistry, extrusion, coating, laminating, printing, and converting capabilities. Bemis stated the deal was expected to be accretive to diluted GAAP and adjusted earnings per share beginning in 2010, with pro forma 2009 net sales including Food Americas reaching roughly $4.8 billion across more than 20,000 employees in 84 manufacturing facilities worldwide.
U.S. Department of Justice antitrust review focused on flexible packaging rollstock for chunk and sliced natural cheese, shredded natural cheese, and shrink bags for fresh meat. On February 25, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered a Hold Separate Stipulation and Order requiring Bemis to divest facilities in Menasha, Wisconsin, and Tulsa (Catoosa), Oklahoma, that together represented about $100 million in 2009 net sales.
The Menasha and Tulsa plants specialized in retail natural cheese flexible packaging and fresh red meat shrink bags—segments where combined Bemis-Alcan share raised competitive concerns in U.S. and Canadian markets. Until divestiture closed, Bemis operated the plants under court supervision while integrating the remaining 21 facilities into its global network.
Industry analysts linked the acquisition to ongoing flexible packaging consolidation following Amcor's Alcan purchases in Europe. For competing converters and machinery suppliers, the deal instantly repositioned Bemis as one of the largest food flexible packaging groups in the Americas—concentrating volume that would influence resin purchasing, ink qualification, and press technology roadmaps for years.