Ardagh Group Announces Acquisition of Finanziaria di Partecipazioni Industriali S.p.A.

The acquisition has been approved by the Italian competition authority and is likely to complete in early April.

4/1/2011 --- Ardagh Group announced that it has agreed to acquire Finanziaria di Partecipazioni Industriali S.p.A., (‘Fi.Par’), subject to certain conditions. Fi Par is a group engaged in the production of metal packaging for the food and aerosol markets in Italy and Greece. Fi.Par trades under the names of In Cam, National Can Italiana, Eurobox, European Aerosol Can, and National Can Hellas. The Fi.Par Group had sales revenues of approximately 150m euro in 2010 and employs 440 people in its four manufacturing locations in Italy and one in Greece. The acquisition has been approved by the Italian competition authority and is likely to complete in early April.

Ardagh Group is a global leader in rigid packaging, producing metal and glass packaging solutions for most of the world's leading food, beverage and consumer product brands. It operates 82 manufacturing plants in 24 countries, employs 14,000 and has global sales in excess of Eur 3.2 Billion.

Niall Wall CEO of Ardagh commented:

"With this acquisition Ardagh reinforces its position in two of its key product areas: metal food containers and aerosols. Annual Group sales in Italy including glass and metal will now be substantially increased, making this one of our key geographies and further strengthening our presence in Southern Europe."

He added:

"This is a really good transaction, Fi.Par is a very successful business with an excellent reputation that will enhance Ardagh's overall position in Europe. We are very excited about its addition to our Group as it represents our further commitment to this very important market and we look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to the Group".