Impress announces purchase of Amcor's Food can and Aerosol business in Australia and New Zealand

Impress announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Amcor Group’s Food Can and Aerosol business in Australia and New Zealand. The transaction is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2007 and is subject to the customary regulatory approvals.

The Amcor business to be purchased by Impress comprises seven facilities. The products manufactured include steel food cans, easy open ends, peelable ends, and steel and aluminium aerosols. The principal food markets served are ready meals, dairy, and fruit and vegetables. The markets for Aerosols include cosmetics, air fresheners, and insecticides. The business delivers to several blue-chip international companies who are already Impress customers elsewhere, including Heinz, Nestlé, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever. The operation being acquired has an annual sales turnover of approximately 150 million euros and employs approximately 600 people. It is the largest producer of aerosol cans in Australasia, and the second largest producer of food cans.

‘After our recent expansion into several new countries (in Eastern Europe, North America, and North Africa) this is another major step in our strategy to extend our geographical coverage while staying focused on our core metal packaging markets’, says Francis Labbé, Chief Executive Officer of Impress. ‘We feel very comfortable about this business as we know it well through a Technical Assistance Agreement we have had in place since 2002. It is a well run operation, with good people and a strong reputation for quality and reliability. We believe this is an excellent platform for creating value through the deployment of Impress’ skills, particularly in Operational Excellence and Innovation.’

Impress is a global market leader in the consumer metal packaging industry. It is the second largest European supplier of heat processed food cans, worldwide leader in the seafood can market, European leader in cans for paints and coatings, European leader in cans for dry foods and European leader for aerosol cans.

Impress is based in Deventer, the Netherlands and had worldwide sales of approximately €1.5 billion in 2006. It employs approximately 7,800 people in 52 facilities in 19 countries in Europe, North America, Japan, North Africa and the Seychelles.

For further Information, please contact:

Talents et Compagnie : Ysabel Noël
t: +33 1 56 89 56 52
f: +33 1 56 89 56 50
e: noel@talentscompagnie.com

Impress: Richard Moore
t: 33 1 45 19 18 14