The European Commission has approved the Berry Global Group Inc.'s planned acquisition of the United Kingdom-based RPC Group plc, clearing a hurdle needed to complete the deal.
In a decision announced April 24, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns as there were “limited horizontal overlaps and vertical relationships between the companies' activities.”
RPC, the EC said, is active in the manufacture of plastic products, including packaging and non-packaging, while Berry is active exclusively in plastic packaging, including non-woven specialty materials and engineered materials.
Based in Evansville, Ind., Berry made a $4.37 billion offer to acquire RPC in March, trumping an earlier purchase attempt by private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
RPC, with 153 manufacturing sites in 33 countries, brings about 25,000 employees to Berry's existing workforce of about 23,000.
The move combines Berry's concentration of business in North America with RPC's concentration in Europe to provide a global plastic packaging platform, Berry CEO Tom Salmon said at the time of the offer.