Lawson Mardon's head of packaging has rejected analysts' predictions that his division will be sold off once parent company Algroup merges with Canadian aluminium giant Alcan in October (PrintWeek, 28 July).
"No, it won't be the case," said Henk van de Meent. "At least, that's how I see it - you can never be 100% sure."
Algroup's packaging sales comprised 45% of its total SFr7.5bn turnover last year, with aluminium at 55%. Van de Meent said Alcan was also active in packaging, with petfood containers, household and cigarette foils, and a flexible packaging operation in Brazil.
He said aluminium and packaging complemented each other by "offsetting the cyclicality" of each business, pointing out that rival aluminium producers Viag and Alcoa also have packaging operations. "The two go very well together. Alcan has no special reason to sell it off."
According to Christian George, an analyst at Credit Lyonnaise, this view was echoed by Alcan's chairman Jacques Bougie in a conference call three months ago. "He said that he hoped packaging would become a core business, which in the year 2000 is quite a statement."
George conceded that if "things go well and the share price regains strength, there won't be any pressure for him to do anything with packaging as long as it is steady". But if the share price stays low, packaging is likely to be the first casualty.
However, George also suggested Bougie might have made the statement in the hope of generating a decent offer for the packaging arm.
Story by Tania Mason