Rio Tinto has announced it will sell its Alcan Packaging Food Americas division to Bemis Company Inc. for more than a billion dollars.
Wisconsin-based food-and-beverage packager Bemis will acquire 23 operations spread across the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America and New Zealand that package and wrap everything from meats and cheese to bagged lettuce and snack foods for $US1.2 billion.
The business has 4,600 employees and annual sales of $US1.5 billion.
The deal should boost Bemis’ sales from around $US3.5 billion to $US5.2 billion annually.
Rio Tinto acquired these packaging businesses as part of its 2007 purchase of Canadian aluminum giant Alcan.
Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore, copper, aluminum and other metals, has sold several businesses over the last year in advance of several looming debts coming to maturity.
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