FRANCE – Australian packaging firm Orora Ltd has confirmed that it is in ‘advanced negotiations’ with Olympe for the potential acquisition of France-based luxury glass bottle manufacturer Saverglass.
The latest news was shared by Orora in a securities exchange filing, requesting for voluntary suspension of trading of its ordinary shares on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) with immediate effect.
According to Orora, the negotiations with Saverglass’ holding company Olympe will take some days to finalize, depending on a “number of factors”.
These factors primarily include the requirement of finalizing funding arrangements for the potential deal, the number of involved vendors in seller group as well as the size and global nature of target business.
Orora said that it has requested this voluntary suspension to manage its “continuous disclosure obligations”, as the company progresses negotiations for this potential transaction.
This suspension has been requested to remain in place until the earlier commencement of trading on 1 September 2023 or when Orora requests the voluntary suspension to be lifted, the Australian company added.
Founded in 1897 in France, Saverglass manufactures and decorates high-end glass bottles for wines and spirits and recorded total sales of €786 million (US$852.41m) last year.
Meanwhile, Orora provides a wide range of sustainable packaging solutions, including glass bottles, beverage cans and corrugated boxes, along with visual communications solutions, such as point-of-purchase displays and signage.
It has three main business segments, comprising Orora Packaging Solutions and Orora Visual in North America and Orora Beverage in Australasia.
Recently, Orora Beverage invested US$80 million (A$110m) to establish a new aluminium can manufacturing line at its Dandenong facility in Australia’s southeast state of Victoria.
The new canning line was flagged off, sighting the emerging demand for the company’s 200ml boutique-sized aluminium cans for soft drinks, kombucha and alcohol.
Orora Beverage President, Simon Bromell said: “The cans business has been growing strongly and hence the investments that we have made.
“Some of that growth clearly comes from sustainability cues of cans relative to plastic. Some of it comes from consumer preference which is particularly craft beer playing a strong role.”
According to the president, Orora Beverage’s 200ml aluminium cans seem to drive smaller customers who want to launch new brands with their flagship products.
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