A Winston-Salem aluminum can packaging plant has a new owner, Ardagh Metal Beverage USA Inc., as part of a divestiture required for a multi-billion dollar transaction to gain federal regulatory approval.

Ardagh, a subsidiary of Ardagh Group SA of Luxembourg, paid $7.63 million for the former Rexam Beverage Can Co. facility at 4000 Old Milwaukee Lane in Piedmont Triad Industrial Park.



The Forsyth County Register of Deeds said the transaction was completed July 19. It is not known how many local employees Ardagh gained through the transaction. The Federal Trade Commission required Ball Corp. to sell eight U.S. aluminum can plants to settle agency claims that its purchase of Rexam PLC potentially was anti-competitive.

The FTC approved the deal June 30, which was comprised of $6.1 billion in cash and $2.4 billion in assumed debt. Ardagh paid $3.1 billion for the eight properties. Before the completion of the deal, Ball and Rexam already were, respectively, the No. 1 and No. 2 manufacturers of aluminum beverage cans domestically and globally.

Ardagh is already one of the world’s largest producers of glass bottles for the beverage industry and metal cans for the food industry.



The FTC complaint alleged that without a divestiture, “it is likely that the proposed merger would substantially lessen competition for standard 12-ounce aluminum cans” in four U.S. regions — defined as the South, Southeast, Midwest and West.

The complaint alleged the deal “would substantially lessen competition for specialty aluminum cans nationwide.”
Ball and Rexam produce specialty aluminum cans that range in size from 7.5 ounces to 24 ounces, come in different shapes, and are used to market a wide variety of different products, such as portion-controlled drinks and energy drinks.

Besides the Winston-Salem plant, Ardagh bought aluminum can body plants in: Fairfield, Calif.; Chicago; Whitehouse, Ohio; Fremont, Ohio; Bishopville, S.C.; Olive Branch, Miss.; and Rexam’s aluminum can end plant located in Valparaiso, Ind. Ardagh also gained Rexam’s U.S. headquarters in Chicago and its U.S. Technical Center in Elk Grove, Ill.

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