Packaging group Ardagh has made an offer to buy glass container manufacturer Verallia North America from Compagnie de Saint-Gobain in a deal worth up to €1.28 billion.
The VNA deal would have to be approved by regulators, and if the sake goes ahead, the deal would close later this year.
The move would allow Ardagh to move into the lucrative wine sector in the US for the first time.
The Indiana headquartered firm, which employs 4,400 people, is the second largest glass container manufacturer in the US, and supplies the North American wine, food and beverage industries.
About 9 billion containers are produced each year at 13 facilities located throughout the US.
VNA's annual revenues total about $1.6 billion (€1.2 billion).
Ardagh Group chairman Paul Coulson said the acquisition would be an important milestone in the group's evolution, adding scale, diversity and value to its global packaging operations.
"The transaction would increase the size of our glass business globally by almost 60 per cent and be a very significant step in developing our operations in the US," he said. "It would result in approximately 40 per cent of Ardagh Group?s total sales and EBITDA being generated in the US.?
The deal will be funded by the issue of $1.45 billion equivalent of debt financing through senior secured notes and senior notes.
The company expects revenues to have risen in the final quarter of 2012, although its metal packaging division is expected to be flat or slightly lower year on year.
Combined EBITDA for the glass and metal packaging businesses is expected to be marginally higher than the same quarter of 2011.
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