Bemis Company Inc., Antitrust Violation, Missouri 2023

Bemis Company Inc. Agrees to Divest Assets in Antitrust Settlement

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities announced today that Bemis Company Inc. will be required to divest certain assets in order to proceed with its acquisition of the Alcan Packaging Food Americas business from Rio Tinto plc, the parent company of Alcan Corporation.

The acquisition, valued at approximately $1.2 billion, would combine Bemis and Alcan, two of the leading U.S. manufacturers of flexible-packaging rollstock for chunk, sliced and shredded natural cheese packaged for retail sale and flexible-packaging shrink bags for fresh meat.

Without the divestitures, the authorities said the acquisition would lead to higher prices, lower quality, less favorable supply-chain options, reduced technical support, and less innovation for consumers.

Bemis is a Missouri corporation with its principal place of business in Neenah, Wis. Bemis and its subsidiaries — including Curwood Inc., which is Bemis’s subsidiary that produces flexible packaging for cheese and meat — made approximately $3.8 billion in sales in 2008, of which $2.1 billion was attributable to the sale of flexible packaging in the United States.

The proposed settlement requires the companies to divest all of Alcan’s contracts and intellectual property as well as plants located in Catoosa, Okla., and Menasha, Wis., along with certain other assets necessary to the manufacture of flexible packaging for natural cheese and fresh meat.

As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement, along with a competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning this proposed settlement during a 60-day comment period to Maribeth Petrizzi, Chief, Litigation II Section.

Bemis Company Inc., a Missouri corporation, will proceed with the acquisition of Alcan Packaging Food Americas business from Rio Tinto plc after agreeing to divest certain assets.

Defendant/respondent: Bemis Company Inc.

Exact criminal charges: Antitrust Violation

City and state: Washington, D.C.

Exact date: N/A

Sentence or outcome: Agreement to divest assets

Dollar amounts: $1.2 billion (acquisition value), $3.8 billion (Bemis sales in 2008), $2.1 billion (flexible packaging sales in the United States in 2008)

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