Owens-Illinois (OI) Acquires 50% Stake In Empresas Comegua

Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE:OI) has acquired 49.7% interest in Empresas Comegua S.A. for $119 million from Fabricación de Máquinas, S.A. de C.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V.

Empresas Comegua S.A. is the leading manufacturer of glass containers, which operates two glass manufacturing facilities — one in Costa Rica and another in Guatemala. Empresas caters to Owens-Illinois’ global strategic customers and various segments, including food, soft drinks, beer, spirits and pharmaceuticals.

The buyout will help Owens-Illinois expand its presence into new and growing glass markets in Central America, and extend the company’s market presence in the Caribbean. The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings and cash flow from the first year of the acquisition.

Notably, Owen-Illinois’ acquisition of Vitro's food and beverage business in 2015 provided the company a competitive edge in the attractive and growing glass segment of the packaging market in Mexico. The company anticipates to realize around $30 million in run-rate cost synergies by 2018 through both procurement savings and operating efficiencies. It should contribute about 50 cents per share in 2018.

Moreover, the company’s extension of the 50-50 joint venture (JV) with Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) for an additional ten years (to 2034), and expansion to include an additional furnace will be earnings accretive moving ahead. The JV was formed in 2014 and currently operates a glass container production plant in Nava, Mexico. Per the terms of the original JV agreement, the glass production plant was to be expanded from one furnace to four furnaces by 2018.

Share Price Performance

Shares of Owens-Illinois have dropped 27% in the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 26%.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Owens-Illinois currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the same sector include RBC Bearings Incorporated (NASDAQ:ROLL) and Mobile Mini, Inc. (NASDAQ:MINI) . Both stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

RBC Bearings has a long-term earnings growth rate of 5.9%. The company’s shares have been up 28% during the past year.

Mobile Mini has a long-term earnings growth rate of 14%. Its shares have rallied 23% in the past year.

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