At the heart of the alliance, CCL will have exclusive license and distribution rightsin the United States of America and Canada for Weener's entire product line, which includesplastic closures, dispensing systems, speciality PET bottles, and injection molded plastic tubes and tube closures. Weener will also have similar distribution and licensing rights in Europe for CCL's line of dispensing closures and dispensing systems.
The German company is confident that the alliance will open up new markets to the business. Weener, headquartered in Weener, Germany, has extensive manufacturing capabilities including a large plastic injection mold manufacturing facility, and substantial product development resources. Additionally, the company has facilities in Germany, Spain, Ireland, Hungary, Russia, and Egypt.
"This alliance with CCL will enable Weener to serve the needs of its international customers in the North American market," said WPPG president Johann Schroeder. "It is an essential step for Weener to fulfill its strategic vision to serve its global customers in all the major world markets."
The deal with Weener is just one of several recent corporate deals made by CCL. The group's custom manufacturing division has just completed a multi-year agreement with a major marketer for the annual supply of approximately 30 million units of products from its Memphis, Tennessee and Rexdale, Ontario liquid filling facilities.
This volume became available due to the customer's rationalisation of its manufacturing asset base. CCL has committed to spend $2 million for equipment in order to accommodate this added volume. CCL Custom Manufacturing currently produces approximately 730 million aerosol and liquid products annually for the North American market.
"We are very pleased with these strategic growth opportunities," said CCL Industries president Donald Lang. "The alliance with Weener Plastik allows CCL Plastic Packaging to meaningfully expand its product range and offerings of unique packaging solutions to its customers in North America. Additionally, the new supply agreement provides volume growth for CCL Custom Manufacturing in 2004 and partially offsets business that was lost in 2003 due to soft demand and competitive pricing."
CCL Industries provides packaging solutions, including speciality aluminium and plastic packaging and innovative product labelling, to some of the world's largest food producers. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and employs 7,000 people across North and Central America and Europe.