| To: richardred who wrote (2266) | 5/14/2010 12:55:21 PM | | From: richardred | | | | L.B. Foster, Portec merger time line extended
Pittsburgh Business Times - by Malia Spencer
The merger time line between L.B. Foster Co. (Nasdaq: FSTR) and Portec Rail Products Inc. (Nasdaq: PRPX) has been extended and the two companies agreed to waivers that would allow Portec to speak with a third party regarding another offer for the company.
The “drop dead date” for the merger was pushed to the end of the business day Aug. 31 and the two companies have agreed that the deal would not be consummated before July 16, as a result of talks with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, according to statements released by both companies.
Additionally, Portec Rail officials have the go-ahead to speak with Ameridan Resources LLC regarding a verbal offer from Ameridan.
Green Tree-based L.B. Foster, which manufactures, fabricates and distributes products for rail construction and utility markets, first announced in February a tender offer to buy the outstanding shares of O’Hara-based Portec Rail for $11.71 per share, of $112 million. In March, the two companies received requests for additional information from the federal Antitrust Division and the two have stated they are cooperating.
Separately, the merger announcement also garnered a series of shareholder law suits. On April 21, a judge with the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County handed down a preliminary injunction finding that Portec Chairman Marshall T. Reynolds and the board of directors had breached their fiduciary duties by, among other things, not fully considering a slightly higher offer of $12 a share made by Ameridan Resources.
Amendments to the merger agreement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission specify that Portec officials are allowed to speak with Ameridan about its verbal inquiry to purchase Portec’s outstanding shares. However, that is the only such action the company can take that would “reasonably likely facilitate, induce or encourage any inquiries with respect to proposals for transactions with third parties,” according to the amendment.
Portec had no comment on the time frame for such discussions. The company manufactures and distributes rail products.
L.B. Foster reported first quarters earnings of $1.8 million, or 17 cents per share, on sales of $82 million. Portec Rail had first quarter earnings of $457,000, or 5 cents a share, on sales of $23.3 million.
pittsburgh.bizjournals.com |
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| From: richardred | 7/12/2010 11:31:36 AM | | | | | | | First buy in quite some time. SHLM the company had a good quarter. The company has in the past has explored strategic alternatives. I already had some shares from the ICOC takeover. Nice dividend yield for the wait. |
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| From: richardred | 7/17/2010 1:53:13 PM | | | | | | BMS
Message 24364591
Flexible packaging market consolidates, says AMI
By David Eldridge
Posted 12 July 2010 11:56 am GMT
AMI estimates that the converted flexible packaging industry in Europe consumed nearly 3.6 million tonnes of substrates in 2009 and the business was worth approximately €20bn.
The UK research group said: “This valuation may surprise some observers of the industry as substantially lower figures have more typically been quoted in the past. However, AMI believes this to be an under-estimate and the value of the industry is significantly higher.”
In a new analysis of the 50 largest companies in the sector, it said the industry involves a wide range of companies and business models due to the complexity of materials and combinations that can be used and the variety of converting processes that can be applied.
Although there has traditionally been fragmentation in the industry, a number of major regional and global groups have emerged in Europe to meet the needs of the global brand owners.
The reasons behind restructuring and strategic change among the market leaders are rising costs, growing environmental pressures and lower economic growth.
AMI said there is an increasing focus on the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Russia along with moves to shift production to higher value products within Western operations.
The major corporate change has been Amcor’s acquisition of Alcan Packaging’s flexible packaging businesses. Alcan and Amcor were already the two largest players in Europe based on sales and the combination of the two has created a global business with sales of over $4bn employing 14,000, said AMI, which analyses the combined business in its report.
Of the 50 companies covered, AMI calculates they accounted for just over 40% of the converted flexible packaging market on a volume basis and 50% by value.
prw.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (2277) | 7/17/2010 1:56:40 PM | | From: richardred | | | | Rio Tinto sells last pieces of Alcan Packaging to Amcor and Sun Capital
By Dan Hockensmith, Plastics News
Posted 7 July 2010 7:49 am GMT
International mining conglomerate Rio Tinto of London has sold off the last of its Alcan Packaging business.
In a July 5 news release, Rio Tinto said that Australia’s Amcor bought Alcan’s medical flexible business for $66m and that Alcan’s beauty packaging division was acquired by Sun European Partners – a London-based subsidiary of US-based Sun Capital Partners – for an undisclosed sum.
Alcan’s beauty division employs about 8,000 and operates 26 plants in 12 countries. It had $932m in sales in 2008.
The medical business deal, which consists of four North American plants with $115m in sales, completes Amcor’s acquisition of the Alcan Packaging pharmaceuticals, tobacco, Food Europe and Food Asia divisions.
“Amcor has been a very aggressive consolidator in the packaging industry. For several years they struggled because of a lack of focus,” Ghansham Panjabi, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee, said in a July 6 telephone interview. “They really seem to be making a calculated bet on plastics packaging, I’m not sure how long it will take for the investment to bring returns, but it’s creating a situation where [in the packaging supply chain, companies] will have to go to Amcor — they’re that big now.”
Packaging giant Bemis in March acquired Alcan’s Food Americas division for $1.2bn.
“The problem with [plastics packaging] is that it’s fragmented globally,” Panjabi said. As a result, US and Western European packaging firms have missed out on some sales opportunities in Asia and in developing markets, he said. “The US industry has struggled because the pricing pendulum is toward the customer level, but now, due to industry consolidation, it’s swinging back the other way,” Panjabi said.
Since 2008, Rio Tinto has received more than $10bn from the sale of assets. The money has been used to reduce the debt involved in the 2007 purchase of Alcan for $38bn, in which Rio Tinto beat out Alcoa’s $33bn bid. Rio Tinto sold the packaging assets to focus on its core mining business.
prw.com |
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| From: richardred | 7/17/2010 2:05:55 PM | | | | | | Honam to Acquire Titan Chemicals for $1.25 Billion
July 16, 2010, 4:02 AM EDT
More From Businessweek
July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Honam Petrochemical Corp. will acquire Malaysia’s Titan Chemicals Corp. in an all-cash deal valued at $1.25 billion in South Korea’s biggest overseas acquisition this year.
South Korea’s second-largest ethylene maker will buy all of Titan’s stock for 2.35 ringgit (73 cents) a share, the Malaysian company said in a statement today. That’s a 27 percent premium to Titan’s closing price of 1.85 ringgit yesterday. Honam will pay 1.5 trillion won ($1.25 billion) for the purchase, the Seoul-based company said in an e-mailed statement.
South Korean chemical companies are increasing investment overseas as a global economic recovery boosts demand for ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics and synthetic fibers. Honam said it expects the Titan acquisition to bolster its presence in Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East and Central Asia, and raise its revenue to 12 trillion won this year.
“The acquisition will help Honam become Asia’s largest ethylene maker,” said Yoo Young Kuk, an analyst at KTB Securities Co. “The increased ethylene output capacity will boost Honam’s medium to long-term growth forecast as the global economic recovery will increase chemical demand.”
The South Korean ethylene producer has enough cash reserves to finance the Titan acquisition, though it may raise some funds in the market, Roger Lee, a company spokesman, said by telephone, without specifying whether the money would be raised through debt or equity.
Honam has signed an agreement to acquire a 37.3 percent stake in Titan from Chao Group and a 35.3 percent interest from Permodalan National Bhd., Lee said. Honam is required to make an unconditional takeover offer to the remaining holders at a cash consideration of 2.35 ringgit a share, Titan said.
Overseas Sales
Shares of Honam advanced 8.8 percent to close at 161,500 won, the highest since Oct. 18, 2007. The benchmark Kospi index declined 0.7 percent. Trading in Titan was halted in Kuala Lumpur today.
Overseas sales account for 55 percent of Honam’s total revenue, Lee said. The company plans to increase the ratio, he said, without giving a target.
Honam’s annual capacity to produce ethylene will rise to 2.47 million metric tons after the acquisition, from 1.75 million tons currently, the company said.
Titan is Malaysia’s biggest producer of olefins and polyolefins, used in making plastic parts in appliances and automobiles, and reported sales of $1.64 billion last year.
HSBC Holdings Plc is the international financial adviser for Honam and RHB Investment Bank Bhd. is the company’s Malaysian adviser, the chemical producer said.
South Korea’s Hanwha Chemical Corp. last year formed a venture with Saudi International Petrochemical Co. to build a 4 billion-riyal ($1.1 billion) plant in the Middle East’s biggest economy.
--Editors: Ryan Woo, Amit Prakash.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shinhye Kang in Seoul at skang24@bloomberg.net Seonjin Cha in Seoul at scha2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net.
businessweek.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (2277) | 7/17/2010 2:10:44 PM | | From: richardred | | | | Europe's Top 10 Converted Flexible Packaging Companies
Rank Company Headquarters
1 Amcor Flexibles --Australia
2 Mondi Group -- UK
3 Constantia Packaging --Austria
4 Clondalkin Group --Netherlands
5 Bischof + Klein -- Germany
6 Nordenia -- Germany
7 Wihuri Oy Wipak -- Finland
8 Sealed Air -- USA
9 Bemis Europe Flexible Packaging-- Belgium
10 Gascogne Laminates-- France
plasteurope.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (2278) | 7/17/2010 2:23:44 PM | | From: richardred | | | | Amcor hails strategic significance of Ball Plastics takeover
By Rory Harrington, 16-Jun-2010
Related topics: Packaging
Amcor said its takeover of Ball Plastics Packaging Americas for US$280m is an important strategic move that will allow it to diversify packaging formats, as well as expand its manufacturing capabilities and market share.
The Australia-based company announced the agreement to purchase the Ball Corporation subsidiary - an operation with five plants in North America and annual sales of $600m – would also fuel its expansion in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
Innovation and capability boost
Amcor added the acquisition would boost its ability to offer a “broader range of innovation and technology-based solutions to customers”. Earlier this year, Peter Brues, president of Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas, told FoodProductionDaily.com that its takeover of Alcan would give the company the opportunity to out-innovate its competition and the latest move appears to be in step with this strategy.
The deal brings with it expanded capabilities, including developments in multi-layer, retort, and barrier technologies ,as well as the assets and know-how to manufacture HDPE and PP extrusion blowmoulded containers, said an Amcor statement.
The buyout will also enlarge its Diversified Products business, which targets the food, pharmaceutical, distilled spirits and personal care markets. Growth is anticipated in wine bottles, retort packaging for food, and high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) containers for various market segments.
ap-foodtechnology.com |
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