BROOMFIELD, Colo., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball
Corporation (NYSE: BLL) announced today that the company has
acquired an additional 10.1 percent economic interest in its
Brazilian beverage packaging joint venture, Latapack-Ball
Embalagens, Ltda.
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The transaction increases Ball's overall ownership in the joint
venture to approximately 60 percent. Latapack-Ball's results will
be consolidated and reported in Ball Corporation's metal beverage
packaging, Americas and Asia,
segment beginning with the third quarter of 2010. Ball expects to
report a gain in the third quarter on its previous ownership
interest in Latapack-Ball.
Latapack-Ball operates metal beverage packaging manufacturing
plants in Tres Rios, Jacarei and
Salvador, Brazil, and is expected
to have 2010 sales of approximately $360
million.
"Ball's roots in Brazil reach
back more than 15 years, and the Brazilian market has become an
increasingly important region for our products and our company,"
said R. David Hoover, Ball's
chairman and chief executive officer. "The business is experiencing
significant growth and we expect it to contribute to our future
success, though the impact on Ball's earnings per share this year
will be limited, as we already report 50 percent of the net income
of the joint venture."
Ball also announced that Pedro Henrique
Mariani has joined the company as an advisory director.
Mariani, 57, is one of the executive officers and president of the
board of directors of BancoBBM, one of Brazil's leading financial institutions.
"Pedro Henrique has worked with
Ball for many years as a partner in our growing Brazilian joint
venture, and his extensive knowledge and experience has been an
important part of its success," Hoover said. "As an advisory
director, Pedro Henrique will
provide valuable advice and counsel to Ball and its board of
directors."
Mariani was president of ANBID (Brazilian Association of
Investment Banks) between 1996 and 2000 and a member of the
Brazilian Financial System Council between 1988 and 1996. Currently
he is a member of the boards of directors of Odebrecht S.A. and of
FEBRABAN (Brazilian Federation of Banks).
Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality packaging for
beverage, food and household products customers, and of aerospace
and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S.
government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than
14,000 people worldwide and reported 2009 sales of more than
$7.3 billion including discontinued
operations. For the latest Ball news and for other company
information, please visit http://www.ball.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning
future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects,"
"anticipates," "estimates" 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 Exhibit 99.2
in our Form 10-K, which are available at our website and at
www.sec.gov. Factors that might affect our packaging segments
include fluctuation in product demand and preferences; availability
and cost of raw materials; competitive packaging availability,
pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; crop
yields; competitive activity; failure to achieve anticipated
productivity improvements or production cost reductions; mandatory
deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major
customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or
supplier; and changes in foreign exchange rates or tax rates.
Factors that might affect our aerospace segment include: funding,
authorization, availability and returns of government and
commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical
uncertainties affecting segment contracts. Factors that might
affect the company as a whole include those listed plus: accounting
changes; changes in senior management; the current global recession
and its effects on liquidity, credit risk, asset values and the
economy; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or
divestitures; integration of recently acquired businesses;
regulatory action or laws including tax, environmental, health and
workplace safety, including in respect of climate change, or
chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the
manufacturing process; 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; pension changes; reduced cash flow;
interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited results
due to statutory audits or other effects.
SOURCE Ball Corporation
Copyright t. 9 PR Newswire