Shearman & Sterling is advising Ardagh Group on the financing and antitrust aspects of its $1.7 billion agreement to buy Verallia North America from Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. Ardagh will raise $1.45 billion in high yield bonds in both dollars and euros to finance the acquisition.
Ardagh Group, based in Luxembourg, is a leading glass and metal packaging company. It produces packaging for food and drink companies such as Diageo, Coca Cola, Del Monte and other international brands.
Verallia North America, headquartered in Indiana, is the second largest glass container manufacturer in the US, serving the North American wine, food and drink industries.
The transaction, which is subject to US regulatory approval, is expected to close later in 2013. Once completed, the Ardagh Group will operate 113 facilities in 26 countries, employ some 22,000 people and have global sales exceeding €5.4 billion. Overall the acquisition will increase Ardagh’s glass business globally by almost 60%.
The Shearman & Sterling team of lawyers in the firm’s London, New York, Paris and Frankfurt offices includes capital markets partners Apostolos Gkoutzinis and Bertrand Sénéchal and associate Joji Ozawa, antitrust partner Dale Collins and finance partners Peter Hayes, Esther Jansen and Steve Sherman.
