Owens-Illinois, Inc. has acquired the business and assets of Tianjin New World Glass Containers Co. Ltd, of the People“s Republic of China, for approximately USD 9 million, the US glass container lea…
Owens-Illinois, Inc. has acquired the business and assets of Tianjin New World Glass Containers Co. Ltd, of the People“s Republic of China, for approximately USD 9 million, the US glass container leader said on 4 January 2006. The new company will trade as O-I Tianjin Glass Co. Ltd. The acquisition is structured to be operated as a joint venture in which O-I holds a 95% equity interest with the remaining 5% being held by Tianjin Shi Fa Group Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the local government“s light industry bureau. “The acquisition is an important part of O-I“s growth strategy in emerging markets and reinforces our market leadership in China,” said Steve McCracken, O-I Chairman and CEO. “O-I Tianjin Glass Co. Ltd. represents a low-cost manufacturing position with close proximity to major consumer markets and complements O-I“s existing glass container operations in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Wuhan.” O-I Tianjin Glass Co. Ltd. operations are located in Tianjin, approximately 75 miles southeast of Beijing. The Tianjin plant, which employs 200 people and contains a single glass furnace and two glass container forming machines, has capacity for 65,000 metric tons of annual production. The plant produces containers for the beer and wine industries in northeast China.