July 4: Russian beverage can manufacturer Rostar is being bought by London-based Rexam, the world leader in the business, for US$297 million (£149m). The move follows the recent acquisition by Rexam of Owen Illinois’s plastic packaging business.
Rexam announced this morning that it had agreed to buy Rostar from En+ Group Limited, the parent of Rusal, the Russian aluminium group.
The Russian market for drinks cans has been one of the fastest growing in Europe, with CIS shipments in 2006 up by 15.4 percent year-on-year to reach 4.4 billion units, compared to a regional growth of 10.3 percent. This has partly been fuelled by co-promotions funded by Rostar and Rexam.
