Amcor, the world’s largest consumer packaging group, will merge with another packaging business, Berry Global Group, Inc in a deal that values Berry at about US$8.4 billion (A$12.7 billion).
Amcor said Amcor and Berry shareholders would own 63% and 37% of the combined company respectively under the offer in which Berry shareholders receive 7.25 Amcor shares for each Berry share.
“The transaction has received the unanimous approval of the boards of directors of both Amcor and Berry and values Berry’s common stock at $73.59 per share,” Amcor said in a statement.
Amcor said the merger created a global leader in consumer packaging solutions, with a broader flexible film and converted film offering for customers, a scaled containers and closures business and a unique global healthcare portfolio.
Amcor CEO Peter Konieczny said the deal delivered on the strategy to accelerate growth by putting the customer first, elevating the role of sustainability and orienting the portfolio toward faster growing, higher margin categories.
“We will have a more complete and more sustainable product offering, supported by stronger innovation capabilities, global scale and supply chain flexibility,” Konieczny said in the statement.
The all-scrip deal will create an enlarged entity with 400 packaging plants around the world, 75,000 staff and thousands of customers in consumer and healthcare packaging.
Amcor (ASX: AMC, NYSE: AMCR) shares closed on the New York Stock Exchange at US$9.89, down 26 cents (2.56%), after trading between $9.40 and $10.44 and capitalising the company, which started in Australia, at $14.29 billion.
Amcor shares had finished in Australia on Tuesday at A$15.70 (US$10.36).
Berry (NYSE: BERY) shares closed in New York at $66.16, down 94 cents (1.4%), after trading between $65.61 and $72.50 and capitalising the company at $7.58 billion.
Amcor was established in 1860 in Melbourne as a paper and cardboard manufacturer, expanded into the United States in the 1980s and moved its headquarters to the US in 2019.