Packaging

AMCOR SELLS TWO FLEXIBLE PACKAGING PLANTS IN EUROPE

Wednesday 16. April 2008 - Amcor announces today that it has entered into an agreement to sell the flexibles packaging plants located at Lund in Sweden and Somerset in the United Kingdom to a Swedish private equity group, Accent Equity 2008.

The plants are primarily involved in the production of unprinted films for the meat and fish segments and have combined sales of approximately €85 million.
These divestments are part of the previously announced program of rationalisation and restructuring of the overall flexibles operations in Western Europe.
The primary objectives of this program are to:
• Strengthen market positions through better leverage of technology and manufacturing capabilities;
• Increase weighting in lower cost regions, particularly in Southern and Eastern Europe;
• Improve alignment to customer needs and market trends; and
• Create a strong platform for innovation and continued growth.
The overall restructuring program continues to make solid progress and remains on target to deliver an estimated PBIT benefit of €30 million per annum for an estimated cash cost of €60 million, with the majority of the benefits realised in the 2009/10 financial year.