BLL Ball Corp

BROOMFIELD, Colo., March 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) announced today that it had completed the acquisition of certain North American plastic container assets of Alcan Packaging. Ball acquired Alcan plastic container manufacturing plants in Batavia, Ill.; Bellevue, Ohio; and Brampton, Ontario; as well as certain equipment and other assets at an Alcan plant in Newark, Calif., and at an Alcan research facility in Neenah, Wis. Under an agreement between Ball and Alcan, the equipment acquired in Newark and Neenah will continue to operate in those locations during 2006. The acquired business becomes part of Ball's plastic packaging division, which previously consisted of five plants producing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, primarily for beverages. The former Alcan business employs approximately 470 people and is a leading producer of barrier polypropylene plastic bottles, largely used to package foods. It also manufactures barrier PET plastic bottles for beverages and foods. "The people, assets and technology coming to Ball are good complements to our existing plastic container business and make us a significantly larger and more diverse supplier in the growing market for plastic bottles," said R. David Hoover, chairman, president and chief executive officer. Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products and owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Ball reported 2005 sales of $5.8 billion. With the addition of the employees from Alcan, Ball employs 15,800 people worldwide. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," and variations of same and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in Exhibit 99.2 in our Form 10-K. These filings are available at our Web site and at http://www.sec.gov/. Factors that might affect our packaging segments include fluctuation in consumer and customer demand and preferences; availability and cost of raw materials, including recent significant increases in resin, steel, aluminum and energy costs, and the ability to pass such increases on to customers; competitive packaging availability, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; fruit, vegetable and fishing yields; industry productive capacity and competitive activity; failure to achieve anticipated productivity improvements or production cost reductions, including those associated with our beverage can end project; the German mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; changes in foreign exchange rates, tax rates and activities of foreign subsidiaries; and the effect of LIFO accounting. Factors that might affect our aerospace segment include: funding, authorization, availability and returns of government contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts. Factors that might affect the company as a whole include those listed plus: acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; regulatory action or laws including tax, environmental and workplace safety; governmental investigations; technological developments and innovations; goodwill impairment; antitrust, patent and other litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; reduced cash flow; interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited results due to statutory audits or other effects. DATASOURCE: Ball Corporation CONTACT: Investors, Ann T. Scott, +1-303-460-3537, ; or Media, Harold Sohn, +1-303-460-2266, , both of Ball Corporation Web site: http://www.ball.com/

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