Rexam invests GBP12 million in India

Through a GBP7 million cash investment, Rexam, the world’s largest beverage can maker, will acquire a majority stake in a new drinks can plant, the first of its kind in India. The facility, which will focus primarily on the beer market, is located near Mumbai and is expected to start production in the final quarter of 2006.

Rexam says that thanks to the rapid urbanization of the Indian market, the developing supermarket culture and the growth of a middle-class, India’s beverage market is set to grow at 6% per annum over the next three years.

Along with its joint venture investment, Rexam also acquired pharmaceutical packaging group Truepack for GBP5 million. The acquisition is subject to Indian regulatory approvals.

Truepack, a manufacturer of primary packaging in plastics for the pharmaceutical industry in India, currently has one manufacturing site at Bangalore, where it produces eye, ear and oral dropper bottles, nasal spray bottles as well as tamper-evident closure systems.

At the end of its financial year March 31, 2006, the company had sales of GBP2 million, almost exclusively into the domestic market. It has recently been granted approvals by US authorities to export a number of its products into the US market.

“These deals are further evidence of our strategy to extend our business into emerging markets,” said Lars Emilson, chief executive at Rexam. “The Indian beverage market has strong growth characteristics, while Truepack, a well invested pharma-focused company with a good client base, gives us a foothold in India’s fast growing pharmaceutical packaging market.”