O-I Announces Two Plastics Joint Ventures in Mexico

Owens-Illinois, Inc., announced that its plastics packaging business has finalized two joint ventures in Mexico.

04/05/07 O-I HealthCare Packaging de Mexico has entered a 50/50 joint venture, O-I Pavisa S.A. de C.V., with Pavisa Industries, a leading Mexican plastics packaging company, to manufacture and sell plastic healthcare containers in Mexico and certain other Latin markets.

Owens-Illinois, Inc., announced that its plastics packaging business has finalized two joint ventures in Mexico.

"This is an attractive opportunity for O-I to enter the healthcare market in Mexico with a knowledgeable partner and at a new, best-in-class facility," said Mike Castillo, Latin America business development manager for Owens- Illinois HealthCare Packaging Inc.

Additionally, O-I de Mexico has entered a 50/50 joint venture, O-I Mega S.A. de C.V., with Bepensa Industries, a leading Mexican soft drink producer, to manufacture and sell compression-molded, plastic carbonated soft drink (CSD) closures to Bepensa and other customers in Mexico.

"The O-I Mega JV will benefit from O-I's advanced compression molding technology for manufacturing CSD closures which should help to expand our presence in the growing Mexican market," said David Beckmann, vice president, global commercial operations for Owens-Illinois Closure Inc.