PACKAGING BRIEFS Thursday, June 2

AriZona Beverages extends packaging mix to include 11.5-oz cans
AriZona Beverages USA LLC, the leader in premium ready-to-drink (RTD) tea beverages in the U.S., has extended its packaging mix for AriZona Iced Tea to include 12-packs of 11.5-oz cans from Rexam. The addition will help the tea giant further expand into the mass market. Don Vultaggio, chairman of AriZona Beverages, says, "Our continued partnership with Rexam allows us to expand our packaging portfolio to include 11.5-ounce cans, making it even easier to store and consume AriZona Iced Tea at home or on-the-go." AriZona Iced Tea in 11.5-ounce cans is currently available nationwide.

Tegrant Corp., ThermoSafe Brands moves to new facility in Louisville, KY
ThermoSafe Brands has relocated and expanded its Louisville, KY, facility. "This new facility is truly state of the art in our marketplace, and has been built to incorporate the latest in technology and the best manufacturing practices in the industry," says Stefan Polywka, vp of operations for ThermoSafe Brands." Although we are relocating to a more modern facility, it was important to us to remain in the Louisville area so that we could continue to deliver exceptional value to our customers, while also retaining and developing our existing, highly talented workforce." The new facility will allow for the expansion of the company's product offerings from this location, including ThermoSafe Brands' new Off-the-Shelf Certis Qualified Shippers, and Phase Change Materials (PCMs). This plant will also continue to produce polyurethane insulated shippers.

RockTenn to close three corrugated container plants
RockTenn will close three former Smurfit-Stone corrugated container plants in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011. The plants are located in Birmingham, AL, Jonesboro, AR, and Santa Fe Springs, CA. Existing business will be transitioned to nearby RockTenn facilities. "This action is a necessary first step in realigning the box plant system of RockTenn following the acquisition of Smurfit-Stone. We plan to take many actions in the next year to maximize the efficiency of our manufacturing processes as well as to reduce costs and eliminate redundancies throughout our operations as we move forward to achieve the operating synergy that we anticipate from the Smurfit-Stone acquisition," says Jim Rubright, chairman and CEO.

Sealed Air acquires Diversey for $4.3 Billion
Sealed Air Corp. is acquiring Diversey Holdings Inc., a leading solutions provider to the global cleaning and sanitization market, in a transaction expected to be completed in 2011 and valued at $4.3 billion. "This transaction represents a strategic growth opportunity that leverages Sealed Air's core competencies and positions our company to further capitalize on the megatrends that drive both businesses," says William Hickey, president and CEO of Sealed Air. "With Diversey, we will expand our footprint beyond specialty packaging solutions by gaining entry into a $40+ billion chemical cleaning and hygiene industry that has attractive fundamentals and is already in our value chain."

The combination of Diversey and Sealed Air creates a global leader, positioned to capitalize on attractive megatrends including increased emphasis on food safety and security, health and hygiene and sustainability. With Diversey, Sealed Air will benefit from entry into a $40+ billion cleaning and sanitization market, where increased regulatory focus is driving demand for greater expertise. Hickey will continue as president and CEO of Sealed Air. At the close of the transaction, Edward Lonergan, president and CEO of Diversey, and his team will join Sealed Air, and Lonergan will continue to lead the Diversey business.

Document Security Systems nabs $1.3 million e-commerce order for printing and packaging
Document Security Systems Inc., a world leader in the development of optical deterrent technologies, has received directives from a global e-commerce client which expands its existing printing and packaging production agreement from its original amount of $300,000 to $1.3 million over the next 12 months. CEO Robert Bzdick says, "This particular client is a very large and well-known e-commerce company and our relationship is blossoming as shown by this quadrupling of their annual purchase commitment. Since establishing the relationship with this customer last year, we have demonstrated our quality and service, completed redesigns that will double the number of SKUs we provide to them and have established a strategic West Coast distribution point at our San Francisco-based manufacturing facility, P3, Inc. With the new SKUs, the customer has forecast requirements of nearly $1.3 million for the third quarter 2011 through the second quarter 2012. In the weeks and months ahead we anticipate additional production and revenue growth with other high profile cliental."

Morrison Container Handling Solutions added as a title sponsor for Colin Powell lecture at PACK EXPO Las Vegas
Morrison Container Handling Solutions has signed on as a title sponsor for Gen. Colin Powell's address at PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2011, "Diplomacy: Persuasion, Trust & Values." Nick Wilson, president and owner of Morrison Container Handling Solutions, and chairman of the PMMI Board of Directors, says, "Gen. Powell has clearly dedicated his life to our country, and is a role model for any leader, military or civilian. It's an honor to be a title sponsor for this event." The keynote will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center Tuesday, Sept. 27. A reception begins at 3:30 p.m., and will be followed by the leadership presentation from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tickets for the PACK EXPO Leadership Lecture can be purchased for $125 per person at www.packexpo.com.

Traylor joins MOCON as new head of food safety business unit
Alan Traylor has joined MOCON Inc.—a leading provider of instrumentation, consulting and laboratory services to medical, pharmaceutical, food and other industries worldwide—as the company's new business manager of food safety products. Traylor comes to MOCON as a prior executive of product and technology-oriented companies with global footprints. His diverse past also includes an excellent track record in marketing and sales disciplines, as well as experience in precision instrumentation.

Exopack completes recapitalization
Exopack Holding Corp. has finished a recapitalization of the company's capital structure, which includes a $350 million senior secured term loan facility, a $235 million senior note offering at 10 percent and a $75 million revolving line of credit. The company used the proceeds from the recapitalization to repay its existing $320 million senior notes at 11.25 percent, to repay its existing revolving line of credit, to pay a dividend to parent Sun Capital, and to pay customary closing fees for a transaction of this size and type. The new capital structure extends the maturity of Exopack's debt, reduces its cost of capital, increases its liquidity, and provides significant availability under its revolving line of credit. This affords Exopack the financial flexibility for continued growth through investment in leading-edge equipment and innovative technologies, as well as the ability to pursue future complimentary acquisitions.

In 2011, Exopack continues to invest in new capital with the start-up of a new three layer blown film line in its Griffin, GA, facility, a new nine layer blown film line in its Whitby, ON, facility and several other significant capital projects scheduled to come on line during the year, including two new printing presses, two laminators, three new converting lines and an additional blown film line.

Constar completes financial restructuring and emerges from Chapter 11
Constar Intl. LLC, a leading global producer of PET plastic containers for food and beverages, has completed its financial restructuring and successfully emerged from Chapter 11 on May 31, 2011. The reorganization was completed less than five months from the filing of its Chapter 11 petitions on Jan. 11, 2011. In conjunction with its emergence from Chapter 11, Constar has also entered into a new financing facility with Wells Fargo to provide the company with ongoing liquidity.

Tano to leave CCL Industries
Gaston Tano, svp and chief financial officer of CCL Industries Inc., has resigned to accept a new position, in a similar capacity, at a consumer products company in the private sector and will be leaving CCL at the beginning of August following the release of the company's second quarter earnings.

Spee-Dee expands production
Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery Inc. has added 10,000 sq ft of production space to its corporate headquarters due to significant sales growth. The company has also invested in new manufacturing equipment and increased its workforce. The new space, which will be fully occupied by late June 2011, will be primarily used for final system assembly and pre-shipment inspection. Spee-Dee has recently augmented its production resources through the installation of additional CNC equipment that enables internal manufacture of larger parts that were previously outsourced. The company also continues to recruit additional employees in the areas of assembly, engineering and service.

Winston Packaging celebrates 100th anniversary
Winston Printing Co. (d/b/a Winston Packaging) a provider of branded and private-label printed retail folding cartons, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in June 2011. One of the company's 50+ employees is Russell Gordon, son of the third-generation president and CEO, James Gordon. Russell joined the company in 2008, meaning Winston Packaging is a fourth-generation family business, a distinction only 5 percent of family businesses can claim. In addition, this world-class operation—certified to print for national companies such as Target and Kodak—has remained local to Winston-Salem, which James Gordon says is a central location with excellent transportation routes for shipping the finished products. "The economic and technologic tides in this industry have changed so significantly over the last century," says Gordon. "But Winston Packaging has embraced change, remained flexible and stayed ahead of the curve," Gordon says. "We have evolved from commercial printing to high-quality precision printed consumer product packaging- in essence, we have adapted to the market, to the highs and lows of our customers and to ever-changing technology. It's what I call ‘surthriving.' We've stayed ahead of the curve by sheer determination to succeed and continue our family legacy."

Schott inaugurates new pharmaceutical packaging production in Russia
International technology group SCHOTT has inaugurated a production site for primary pharmaceutical packaging located in Zavolzhe, near the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. The new production site will employ around 60 people initially and will produce premium quality ampoules and vials.

Wipak launches sustainable food packaging films using Cardia Biohybrid technology
Wipak, a leading global supplier of quality packaging films, has released a new range of sustainable food packaging films using Cardia Biohybrid patented technology. Cardia Biohybrid technology combines renewable thermoplastics with polyolefin material to reduce dependence on finite oil resources and to reduce carbon footprint.

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