Rexam plc has bought out its Mexican partner in the Pavisa Industries SA de CV joint venture.
With the purchase, Rexam now fully owns an injection and blow molding plant in Tlalnepantla de Baz, an industrial town just north of Mexico City, it said in Feb. 24 news release.
The plant employs more than 300 and manufactures containers and closures for sectors including pharmaceutical, diagnostic, health care, cosmetic and personal care.
The move is in line with Rexam's strategy to grow in emerging markets, said Graham Chipchase, group director of Rexam Plastic Packaging. London-based Rexam is a major global player in rigid plastic packaging. It had owned 50 percent of the venture.
Terms were not disclosed. Members of Pavisa's local management were either unavailable or declined to comment.
Pavisa was founded in the early 1970s as a joint venture between Wheaton Industries Inc., then of Millville, N.J., and Grupo Pavisa SA de CV, a Mexico City-based company that manufactures glass and plastic packaging and crystal glass tableware.
Together they formed Industrias Wheaton de México SA de CV, which injection and blow molded containers and closures for pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies in Latin America and South America.
Grupo Pavisa took full control of Industrias Wheaton in the mid-1990s and changed the name to Pavisa Industries. Rexam and Grupo Pavisa then formed the joint venture in 2007.
Rexam reported sales of £4.6 billion ($6.6 billion) in 2008, up 28 percent from 2007. It employs 22,300 in 20 countries and also is a major beverage-can producer, making 55 billion cans a year.
For the personal-care market, Rexam manufactures cases for lipstick and mascara, compacts, dispensing solutions for perfumes, lotions and foams, closures for fragrances and samplers for perfume and lotion.
It also injection molds components for personal-care and household goods.
Its products for the health-care market include items ranging from plastic containers and closures to pharmaceutical pumps, valves and ophthalmic packaging.
For the food market, it produces high-barrier plastic tubs, containers and plastic closures. It also manufactures plastic closures, jars and packaging for the automotive and chemical industries.
