Wikipedia

Rexam

Rexam plcwas a British-basedmultinationalconsumerpackagingcompany headquartered in London, England. After spending much of its life as a paper producer known asBowater,it diversified and became a leading manufacturer ofbeverage cans.[3][4]It had 55 plants in over 20 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and South America.[5]In June 2016, Rexam was acquired byBall Corporationfor $8.4 billion.[6][7]

Rexam plc
Company typePublic
IndustryPackaging
Founded1881;143 years ago(1881)(London)
DefunctJune 2016
FateAcquired byBall Corporation
HeadquartersLondon,England,UK
Key people
Stuart Chambers(Chairman)
Graham Chipchase(CEO)
ProductsBeverage cans, plastic packaging
Revenue£3,925 million (2015)[1]
£291 million (2015)[1]
£185 million (2015)[1]
Number of employees
8,000 (2014)[2]
Websitewww.rexam.com

History

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Foundation

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Manchester-bornWilliam Vansittart Bowatertrained as a manager with James Wrigley and Sons, a paper making business based in Manchester. Having been dismissed in 1881 at age 43, Bowater decided to establish himself as a paper agent inLondon.[8][9]

In a quickly expanding market, Bowater later secured contracts to supplynewsprintto two of the leading publishing entrepreneurs:Alfred Harmsworth,then publisher of theDaily Mailand theDaily Mirror;andEdward Lloyd,publisher of theDaily Chronicle.The company was subsequently renamedW.V. Bowater and Sonsafter three of Bowater's sons joined the business, but as an agent the business had few staff: Bowater and his three sons as partner; six clerks; two typists; and an office boy.[8]

After Bowater's death in 1907, in 1910, the company became a privatelimited liability company,led byThomas Vansittart Bowater.It expanded into large-scale dealing in waste paper, including the export of surplus newspapers to theFar Eastto enable their protection during shipping of tea plants. But after Thomas becameLord Mayor of Londonin 1913, the company was left to be run by his younger brothers, who expanded the business internationally. They established an office inSydneyto export newsprint toAustralia,and theHudson Packaging and Paper Companyto market UK newsprint in theUnited States.[8]

1920s

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The start of theFirst World Warbrought about huge growth in the paper market, and the company was prepared for this having purchased a site for development as a pulp and paper making mill inNorthfleet,on the south side of theThames estuarynearGravesend.[8]However, with restrictions on both raw materials and production imposed by theMinistry of War,construction was not started by contractorArmstrong Whitworthuntil post the end of the war. After the need to redesign the plant proposed by Armstrong Whitworth, eldest grandson Eric Bowater was put in charge of the project to select new secondary contractors. After he established full production from the plant in July 1925, in 1927 at the age of 32, he became chairman and managing director of W.V. Bowater and Sons.[8]

In 1928, Eric sold stakes in the business to bothLord Rothermereand other investors, reducing the families stake to 40%. The resulting cash injection allowed a doubling of expansion at Northfleet through additional investment. In 1929, he agreed a deal with both Lord Rothermere and Beaverbrook Newspapers to establish a new pulp and paper mill beside the Manchester Ship Canal inEllesmere Port,Cheshire,the product from which would be consumed under long term supply deals to the newspapers of the two investors. Resultantly, by the end of 1930 with both plants online at full production, Bowater's mills output was 175,000 tons of newsprint per annum, 22% of the UK's total newsprint output.[8][10]

1930s

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However, the great depression cut badly into both investors businesses, resulting in a desperate need for cash injections. After Rothermere sold his stakes in both the main company and the Mersey mill, Beaverbrook took the same action, resulting the company being again completely in family control. As newspaper circulation rose again, Eric invested to double the capacity of the Mersey mills.[8]

After the death of Edward Lloyd, in 1936 the company bought both theSittingbourneand relatively newKemsley Paper Mill.This brought the company's output to 500,000 tons per annum across four plants, producing 60% of British newsprint and the largest newsprint maker inEurope.[8]

After aScandinavian-cartel engineered a large rise in pulp prices, Eric started to buy into raw pulp production. After buying forest interests in bothSwedenandNorway,he bought a large pulp and paper mill atCorner Brook, Newfoundlandin 1938, which owned 7,000 square miles (18,000 km2) of timber and produced 200,000 tons per year of paper. This brought the companies newsprint output up to 800,000 tons per annum.[8]

Second World War

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At the outbreak of theSecond World War,the British government restricted the import and consumption of wood and other products used to create pulp, resulting in an 80% reducing in the companies pre-War UK output. Resultantly, the Northfleet plant which was closest to occupied Europe was closed down. From 1940, Eric Bowater himself was seconded by William Morris to join his team atMinistry of Aircraft Production,for which he was knighted in 1944.[8]

Post War

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After he returned to the business in 1945, Sir Eric Bowater focused the business on packaging in the UK, and international expansion. After buying Acme Corrugated Cases Ltd in 1944, Bowater began to organise the companies interests into a series of wholly owned subsidiaries. As a result, by the mid-1950s, Bowater was the largest producer of newsprint in the world.[8]The Company diversified intotissuemanufacturing in 1956 formingBowater-Scott,a joint venture with theScott Corporation;Scott Corporation bought out the Bowater interest in the joint venture in 1986.[8]Bowater opened a new factory in Gillingham, Kent in the 1960s.[11][12]

By 1962, company assets totalled close to £200 million.[13]Consuming huge amounts of capital, the company had failed to invest in its newsprint production, leaving it with a high cost base which was added to by the opening ofBowater House,a new head office inKnightsbridge.[8]After the death of Sir Eric in 1962, the company began to consolidate. The money-losing European assets were slowly sold off, until the last French plant was sold in the early 1970s. UK and North American newsprint was unwound, with the loss of 300,000 tons of annual production and the closure of the Northfleet mill.[8]

The company demerged its existing United States subsidiary,Bowater Inc.,in 1984.[14]However three years later, in 1987, the company acquired Rexham Corporation, a manufacturer of plastic, paper and foil, based inNorth Carolina.[15]

In 1992, the company acquiredDickinson Robinson GroupPackaging.[16]In 1995, the name was changed toRexam,[17]an abbreviation of the name of one of the Company's subsidiaries, Riegel Paper America, and the business was refocused again – this time into consumer packaging.[9]

In 2005, Rexam disposed of its glass manufacturing businesses toArdagh Glass Groupso as to concentrate on itsbeverage canproduction worldwide.[18]It then went on to acquire O–I Plastics, a plastic packaging business in North America, in 2007.[19][20]In June 2011, Rexam agreed to sell its lid-making operations to the U.S.-basedBerry Plasticsfor £222 million (US$360 million).[21][22]

On 13 February 2014, Rexam acquired 51% stake in United Arab Can Manufacturing Ltd for $122 million.[23]

In February 2015, Rexam accepted Ball Corporation's sweetened takeover offer of £4.4 billion ($6.7 billion), a deal which created one of the world's biggest consumer-packaging suppliers.[24]Ball was required to sell eight U.S. aluminum can plants.[25]In June 2016, Rexam was acquired byBall Corporationfor $8.4 billion.[6][7]

Operations

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Rexam had around 55 plants in over 20 countries and employed around 8,000 people.[2]Its operations span Europe, the Americas and Asia.[2]

References

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  1. ^abc"Annual Report 2015"(PDF).Rexam.Retrieved26 March2016.
  2. ^abc"Rexam PLC - Media - Facts & figures".rexam.com.Retrieved3 April2015.
  3. ^"Brazil Beer Sales to Rise With World-Cup Chances, Rexam Says".Bloomberg Businessweek.29 April 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 16 April 2011.Retrieved24 August2010.
  4. ^"Plastic Packaging".Rexam PLC.Retrieved24 August2010.
  5. ^"Facts & figures".Rexam PLC.Retrieved2 July2014.
  6. ^ab"Ball Corporation (BLL) Gets FTC's Final Nod for Rexam Buy".Finance.yahoo.com. 29 June 2016.Retrieved17 September2016.
  7. ^ab"Ball Corp. (BLL) Announces Completion of Rexam Acquisition, Asset Divestiture".Streetinsider.com. 30 June 2016.Retrieved17 September2016.
  8. ^abcdefghijklmn"Bowater-Scott".Grace's Guide.Retrieved4 February2014.
  9. ^ab"Our history".Rexam PLC.Retrieved4 September2010.
  10. ^"Britain From Above".www.britainfromabove.org.uk.
  11. ^"Industry, Kent".Hansard. 29 June 1959.Retrieved13 July2023.
  12. ^"New Bowater Plant for Packaging".The Times.30 June 1960.
  13. ^Robert Knight, 'Bowater, Sir Eric Vansittart (1895–1962)’, rev. Anita McConnell, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004accessed 10 Aug 2014
  14. ^"Bowater Executive to lead US spin-off".New York Times.1984.Retrieved11 August2018.
  15. ^"Rexham Agrees To Be Acquired For $226 Million".AP News. 16 October 1987.Retrieved11 August2018.
  16. ^"John Dickinson and Co".Grace's Guide.Retrieved11 August2018.
  17. ^Bowater to change name to RexamPlasteurope, 31 May 1995
  18. ^Rexam sells only UK glass facilityPackaging Today, 15 June 2005
  19. ^Rexam acquires O-I plastics operationPackaging News, 3 July 2007
  20. ^"Rexam to buy OI Plastics".Reuters. 11 June 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2016.Retrieved24 April2012.
  21. ^"Rexam sells lid-making arm to Berry Plastics for £222m".The Telegraph.21 June 2011.Retrieved24 April2012.
  22. ^"Plastics packaging: Berry claims Rexam's closures biz for $360m".Plastics Today. 20 June 2011.Retrieved24 April2012.
  23. ^"Rexam buys majority stake in Saudi Arabian beverage cans maker".Reuters.13 February 2014.Retrieved20 February2014.
  24. ^Rory Gallivan (19 February 2015)."Ball Corp. Rolls Up Rexam With Sweetened $6.7 Billion Offer".The Wall Street Journal.Retrieved15 February2016.
  25. ^Richard Craver (27 July 2016)."European group buys Rexam packaging plant in Winston-Salem".Winston-Salem Journal.Retrieved27 July2016.
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