Gerresheimer Glas To Sell Six Subsidiaries

Gerresheimer Glas said it had agreed to sell six glass jar making subsidiaries to a joint venture set up by France's Groupe Danone and CVC Capital Partners. Gerresheimer, a subsidiary of the Viag AG group, said Groupe Danone was placing its glass jar manufacturing activities in its French unit BSN Emballage, which will also take over Gerresheimer Glas's shares in six German companies. The new company has annual sales of around DM2.5bn and profit before tax and interest of about DM210m based on 1998 figures. CVC Capital will hold 56% of shares in the new company and Groupe Danone 44%. CVC manages about DM8bn worth of investment funds in Europe.