CCL Industries forms joint venture in Chile

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CCL Industries, a provider of specialty packaging for the consumer products and healthcare industries, has opened an operation in Chile to serve the wine label market.

Acrus-CCL, based in Santiago, is a joint venture between CCL and a newly created Chilean investment holding company, which has two groups of shareholders: Mitchell Kendall and David Goodman, both veterans of the label industry as former principals of Cameo Crafts Graphic Industries; and Jose Mingo, Aldo Gonzalez and members of the Marinetti family, who have a long history in packaging and the wine and spirits market in Chile. CCL and its partner will each have a 50 percent interest in Acrus-CCL; Aldo Gonzalez has been appointed as general manager.

The partners will initially invest approximately USD $10 million between them, financed by a combination of debt and equity, to create a state-of-the-art label production plant in Santiago dedicated to the wine industry. Chilean wine exports have more than doubled in less than a decade and are estimated to have reached 50 million cases in 2011. CCL's initial equity investment of USD $2 million will be matched by its joint venture partner. Acrus-CCL will eventually expand its presence in the wine and spirits market to other Spanish speaking countries in the Mercusor trading zone.

Aldo Gonzalez, general manager of Acrus-CCL, commented: ‘We are excited to bring new leading edge supply chain and label converting technologies to the very specific needs of Chilean wine exporters. We have a highly experienced local management team that knows the wine industry intimately, supported by the technologies and global leverage of the world's largest label company. I believe such a powerful combination will bring many benefits to our customers in Chile.’

Geoffrey T. Martin, president and chief executive officer, concluded: ‘We have known and admired the principals in this new partnership for some years. This investment expands our presence in both the wine and spirits business and adds an important territory in the fast growing Latin American region. CCL's interests in the joint venture will be represented by Luis Jocionis, vice president and managing director, CCL Label Brazil. We expect the company to commence trading this month and plan to reach profitability in 2013.’

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