Ardagh Metal Packaging said it had been awarded $175 million (€149.4 million) in damages by a US court in a case taken against a unit of the Boston Beer Company.
The company, which is part of the Ardagh Group metal and packaging giant that traces its roots to the Irish Glass Bottle Company, referred to the award in its first-quarter financial statement as an event occurring following the close of the reporting period.
It followed Ardagh Metal Packaging filing a lawsuit in late 2022 in Illinois against American Craft Brewer, a former customer and subsidiary of Boston Beer, for breach of contract in respect of minimum volume purchase requirements.
The litigation progressed to trial during the period and on April 6th, the court entered a jury verdict awarding damages of about $175 million, plus the potential for interest payments.
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Boston Beer had previously disclosed it had expected a potential judgment to land between zero and $300 million, plus interest.
Luxembourg-based Ardagh Group, which had grown in recent decades to become one of the world’s largest packaging companies under Irish financier Paul Coulson, was taken over by a group of bondholders last year as it struggled under a mountain of about $12.5 billion of debt.
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The deal saw Coulson receive $108 million to walk away, with other shareholders receiving $192 million.
The overhaul saw senior unsecured bondholders and holders of high-risk payment-in-kind (PIK) notes swap $4.2 billion of debt for equity in Ardagh Group.
The senior unsecured creditors ended up with 92.5 per cent of the equity in the group, while holders of the PIK Notes were offered 7.5 per cent.
While a group of PIK note holders subsequently challenged through a New York court the ability of an Ardagh Group holding company to complete the restructuring under Luxembourg’s legal system, the US court last month recognised the Luxembourg proceedings.
Ardagh Group reported on Thursday that its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew to $322 million in the first quarter from $290 million for the same period last year as revenue rose almost 12 per cent to $2.49 billion.
The improvement has been driven by the New York-listed metal packaging division, in which it owns a 76 per cent stake.
