Btr Close To £1.5Bn Sale Of Packaging Business

BTR is believed to be close to selling its packaging division to Owens-Illinois for up to £1.5bn. Owens has long been the front runner in the race to buy the business, which BTR put up for sale last year as part of its attempt to become a lean engineering group. However, the sale is thought to have been held up by competition concerns. The strong pound and turmoil in emerging markets is expected to trim profits to £1.1bn. However, the proceeds of the disposal would give BTR enough financial firepower to spend up to £1bn on its long-promised share buy-back programme. (whole item)