Verallia eyes new markets with Algerian acquisition

29-Jun-2011 - Last updated on 30-Jun-2011 at 11:04 GMT

Saint Gobain’s glass packaging arm has acquired an Algerian company as part of a strategy to gain a foothold in the growing North African market.

The French group’s subsidiary Verallia announced this week it had taken over 100 per cent of Alver, a food and beverage packaging company formerly owned by the Algerian state.

Verallia said it was committed to growing production of Alver’s plant in Oran, as well as introducing a staff training programme.

Last year, the Algerian company, which employs 474 people, posted sales of around €7m.

The buyout underlines Verallia’s expansion ambitions, particular in emerging markets, said Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain.

“This confirms the growth strategy of Verallia,” he declared.” It establishes Verallia’s first industrial presence in the South of the Mediterranean Basin, a market that offers an important potential for the filing of food jars and beverage bottles."

IPO postponed

News of the takeover came just a week after Saint-Gobain announced it had postponed the flotation of Verallia because of “volatility and uncertainty in the financial markets”.

A source close to the deal told FoodProductionDaily.com that the timing for deal was poor with the Greek financial crisis creating too much anxiety on world markets.

A profit warning posted the previous week by Verallia’s competitor Owens-Illinois (OI) also stirred up concerns, they said.

The source said there was no indication of when the IPO would take place, but said it was unlikely to be launched until at least after the summer.