Owens-Illinois Inc. acquires remaining stake in Brazil’s Owens-Illinois

 Owens-Illinois Inc Tuesday announced the acquisition of the remaining 21 per cent interest in its southern Brazil glass container company, Owens-Illinois do Brasil Industria e Comercio SA (Comercio). The remaining interest was acquired from Monteiro Aranha SA for approximately US$140 million in cash and gives Owens-Illinois 100-per cent ownership in Comercio. Owens-Illinois expects this transaction to be accretive to 2011 earnings.

Comercio's operations include two plants – one in Sao Paulo and another in Rio de Janeiro. The transaction will allow Owens-Illinois to fully reflect the results of Comercio's operations in its financial statements without a reduction for minority partner interest. For 2010, Comercio's minority interest represented approximately $10 million of Owens-Illinois’ total net earnings attributable to non-controlling interest (approximately $18 million of EBITDA). In addition, Owens-Illinois streamlined its corporate legal structure in Brazil.

Owens-Illinois Chairman and CEO Al Stroucken said Brazil represents a major component of the company’s global growth strategy due to its rapidly expanding glass container market, which is one of the largest and fastest growing areas within Owens-Illinois. Consistent with Owens-Illinois’ strategy, the company acquired CIV in northern Brazil in 2010, said Al Stroucken.

Now, with the buyout of Owens-Illinois’ minority partner in the South, the company fully owns the leading glass packaging company in Brazil. As a result, it will realize all of the benefits of its efforts in this dynamic, emerging market, added Al Stroucken.

Owens-Illinois, Inc is the world's largest glass container manufacturer and preferred partner for many of the world's leading food and beverage brands. With revenues of $6.6 billion in 2010, the Company is headquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio, USA, and employs more than 24,000 people at 80 plants in 21 countries. Owens-Illinois delivers safe, effective and sustainable glass packaging solutions to a growing global marketplace.
 
Sao Paulo-based Comercio began operations in 2007. Owens Illinois is the largest manufacturer of glass containers in the world. Of every two glass containers made worldwide is manufactured by a possibly HI, its subsidiaries and its licensors.

Owens-Illinois has grown to become the world's leading glass container maker with more than 22,000 employees in 21 countries. The $7.1 billion company is headquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio, U.S.A., and holds market leadership positions in each of the four regions in which it operates - Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.