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Amcor chief says Alcan acquisition was a bargainJosh Brooks, 23 February 2010Be the first to comment on this article Amcor chief executive Ken MacKenzie has said that the $2bn acquisition of much of Alcan’s business was a bargain as the Australian packaging giant posted solid results for its first half. Speaking this morning as he gave a bullish outlook for the group’s financial performance in 2010, MacKenzie said that the timing of Alcan acquisition, which completed just 22 days ago, was ideal both in terms of Amcor’s future strategy and the price paid. MacKenzie said: “Having spent four years developing our core capabilities and focusing the portfolio of businesses, the opportunity to purchase Alcan Packaging could not have come at a better time. “Not only were we well prepared to embark on this next phase of growth, but we were able to acquire the business at bottom of the cycle earnings and at a bottom of the cycle multiple.” The total price of the acquisition, $1,948m, represented a multiple of 5.1 times the EBITDA profits of the four Alcan businesses in the deal, which was first announced last August: Alcan Packaging Global Pharmaceuticals, Alcan Packaging Food Europe, Alcan Packaging Food Asia and Alcan Packaging Global Tobacco. Cost savings MacKenzie reiterated plans previously announced that Amcor would aim to make annual cost savings of AUS$200m-AUS$250m through restructuring following the deal, through “overhead cost reductions, procurement cost savings and improved operational efficiencies”. However, no specifics were given on where cuts would be made. Today’s figures from Amcor showed that in the first half of its 2010 financial year, the six months to 31 December 2009, sales dropped 16% to AUS$4.1bn (£2.4bn) while EBITDA fell 6% to AUS$502m. MacKenzie said: “The half year result was particularly pleasing given economic conditions were considerably weaker than the previous comparative period. “More than 80% of our sales are into the food, beverage, healthcare and tobacco packaging segments and the defensive nature of these segments was evident during this period of economic weakness.” AMCOR FIRST-HALF RESULTS 2010 Sales 4,082.5 (2009: 4835.3) Click here for today’s headlines from across the packaging industry
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