Danone To Sell Packaging Stake

Danone has agreed to sell a majority stake in BSN Emballage, its glass packaging business, to CVC Capital Partners of the UK, in a transaction which values the business at FFr7.6bn (£1.2bn). Danone simultaneously said it was buying six glass packaging factories from Gerresheimer of Germany, which would be rolled into the new entity and were included in the overall valuation. The combined company, 56% owned by CVC and 44% by Danone, will be the second largest glass container manufacturer in Europe, with 20 factories in France, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany. Based on 1998 figures, it will have sales of FFr8.3bn and operating profit of more than FFr700m.