WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced Ball Corporation will sell eight U.S. aluminum can plants and associated assets to Ardagh Group S.A. to settle allegations that its proposed $8.4 billion acquisition of Rexam PLC would be anti-competitive.
The FTC believed the acquisition would eliminate direct competition in the U.S. between Ball and Rexam, which are the No. 1 and No. 2 2 manufacturers, respectfully, of aluminum beverage cans nationally and globally. Without the divestiture, the FTC charged, the proposed merger would lessen competition for standard 12-ounce cans in the South, Southeast, the Midwest and West.
Additionally, the FTC alleges the proposed merger would lessen competition for specialty cans that range in size from 7.5-ounce to 24-ounce cans.
The acquisition could also lead to higher prices and reduced quality, selection, service and innovation.
Under the terms of the settlement, the merging companies will divest eight aluminum can plants to Ardagh, a worldwide producer of glass bottles for the beverage industry and metal cans for the food industry. The plants being sold are in Fairfield, California, Chicago, Whitehouse, Ohio, Fremont, Ohio, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Bishopville, South Carolina, and Olive Branch, Mississippi., and Rexam’s aluminum can end plant in Valparaiso, Indiana.