Rio Tinto pushes for Alcan Beauty Packaging sale: reports

The Beauty division, which generated sales of $932m ($560m) last year is the final piece of the Alcan Packaging business left after Rio Tinto agreed deals with Amcor and Bemis in August and July respectively.

According to a story in today’s Daily Telegraph, which cites unnamed sources, Rio Tinto has appointed Ernst and Young to find a buyer for the Beauty division.

Rio Tinto declined to comment when contacted by Packaging News this morning.

The article continued that some observers felt the firm would “not get a high price” for the operation and might even end up “giving the Beauty business away”.

Amcor made a $2.025bn offer to buy Alcan Packaging’s Global Pharmaceuticals, Food Europe, Food Asia and Global Tobacco divisions in August. The deal would create a group with almost $12bn sales, 35,000 staff and more than 200 factories around the world.

A month earlier, Bemis announced a $1.2bn deal to buy the Food Americas division. It has 23 flexible packaging plants across the continent and New Zealand serving the food and drink industries and generated $1.5bn in net sales in 2008.

Alcan’s packaging arm has been signalled for divestment since Rio Tinto acquired the Canadian firm in 2007.

For Packaging News‘s analysis of the break up of Alcan Packaging, click here.

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