Rexam plc was a British-based
multinational consumer
packaging
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...
company headquartered in London, England. After spending much of its life as a paper producer known as Bowater, it diversified and became a leading manufacturer of
beverage cans. It had 55 plants in over 20 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and South America. In June 2016, Rexam was acquired by
Ball Corporation for $8.4 billion.
History
Foundation
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
-born
William Vansittart Bowater trained as a manager with James Wrigley and Sons, a paper making business based in Manchester. Having been dismissed in 1881 at age 43, Bowater decided to establish himself as a paper agent in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
In a quickly expanding market, Bowater later secured contracts to supply
newsprint
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has ...
to two of the leading publishing entrepreneurs:
Alfred Harmsworth, then publisher of the ''
Daily Mail'' and the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
''; and
Edward Lloyd, publisher of the ''
Daily Chronicle''. The company was subsequently renamed W.V. Bowater and Sons after three of Bowater's sons joined the business, but as an agent the business had few staff: Bowater and his three sons as partner; six clerks; two typists; and an office boy.
[
After Bowater's death in 1907, in 1910, the company became a private ]limited liability company
A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...
, led by Thomas Vansittart Bowater. It expanded into large-scale dealing in waste paper, including the export of surplus newspapers to the Far East
The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
to enable their protection during shipping of tea plants. But after Thomas became Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
in 1913, the company was left to be run by his younger brothers, who expanded the business internationally. They established an office in Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
to export newsprint to Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, and the Hudson Packaging and Paper Company to market UK newsprint in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.[
]
1920s
The start of the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
brought about huge growth in the paper market, and the company was prepared for this having purchased a site for development as a pulp and paper making mill in Northfleet, on the south side of the Thames estuary near Gravesend.[ However, with restrictions on both raw materials and production imposed by the Ministry of War, construction was not started by contractor Armstrong Whitworth until post the end of the war. After the need to redesign the plant proposed by Armstrong Whitworth, eldest grandson Eric Bowater was put in charge of the project to select new secondary contractors. After he established full production from the plant in July 1925, in 1927 at the age of 32, he became chairman and managing director of W.V. Bowater and Sons.][
In 1928, Eric sold stakes in the business to both Lord Rothermere and other investors, reducing the families stake to 40%. The resulting cash injection allowed a doubling of expansion at Northfleet through additional investment. In 1929, he agreed a deal with both Lord Rothermere and Beaverbrook Newspapers to establish a new pulp and paper mill beside the Manchester Ship Canal in ]Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...
, Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
, the product from which would be consumed under long term supply deals to the newspapers of the two investors. Resultantly, by the end of 1930 with both plants online at full production, Bowater's mills output was 175,000 tons of newsprint per annum, 22% of the UK's total newsprint output.[
]
1930s
However, the great depression cut badly into both investors businesses, resulting in a desperate need for cash injections. After Rothermere sold his stakes in both the main company and the Mersey mill, Beaverbrook took the same action, resulting the company being again completely in family control. As newspaper circulation rose again, Eric invested to double the capacity of the Mersey mills.[
After the death of Edward Lloyd, in 1936 the company bought both the Sittingbourne and relatively new Kemsley Paper Mill. This brought the company's output to 500,000 tons per annum across four plants, producing 60% of British newsprint and the largest newsprint maker in ]Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.[
After a ]Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n-cartel engineered a large rise in pulp prices, Eric started to buy into raw pulp production. After buying forest interests in both Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, he bought a large pulp and paper mill at Corner Brook, Newfoundland in 1938, which owned of timber and produced 200,000 tons per year of paper. This brought the companies newsprint output up to 800,000 tons per annum.[
]
Second World War
At the outbreak of the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the British government restricted the import and consumption of wood and other products used to create pulp, resulting in an 80% reducing in the companies pre-War UK output. Resultantly, the Northfleet plant which was closest to occupied Europe was closed down. From 1940, Eric Bowater himself was seconded by William Morris to join his team at Ministry of Aircraft Production, for which he was knighted in 1944.[
]
Post War
After he returned to the business in 1945, Sir Eric Bowater focused the business on packaging in the UK, and international expansion. After buying Acme Corrugated Cases Ltd in 1944, Bowater began to organise the companies interests into a series of wholly owned subsidiaries. As a result, by the mid-1950s, Bowater was the largest producer of newsprint in the world.[ The Company diversified into tissue manufacturing in 1956 forming ''Bowater-Scott'', a joint venture with the Scott Corporation; Scott Corporation bought out the Bowater interest in the joint venture in 1986.][ Bowater opened a new factory in Gillingham, Kent in the 1960s.
By 1962, company assets totalled close to £200 million. Consuming huge amounts of capital, the company had failed to invest in its newsprint production, leaving it with a high cost base which was added to by the opening of Bowater House, a new head office in Knightsbridge.][ After the death of Sir Eric in 1962, the company began to consolidate. The money-losing European assets were slowly sold off, until the last French plant was sold in the early 1970s. UK and North American newsprint was unwound, with the loss of 300,000 tons of annual production and the closure of the Northfleet mill.][
The company demerged its existing United States subsidiary, Bowater Inc., in 1984. However three years later, in 1987, the company acquired Rexham Corporation, a manufacturer of plastic, paper and foil, based in ]North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
.
In 1992, the company acquired Dickinson Robinson Group Packaging. In 1995, the name was changed to ''Rexam'', an abbreviation of the name of one of the Company's subsidiaries, Riegel Paper America, and the business was refocused again – this time into consumer packaging.
In 2005, Rexam disposed of its glass manufacturing businesses to Ardagh Glass Group so as to concentrate on its beverage can production worldwide. It then went on to acquire O–I Plastics, a plastic packaging business in North America, in 2007. In June 2011, Rexam agreed to sell its lid-making operations to the U.S.-based Berry Plastics for £222 million (US$360 million).
On 13 February 2014, Rexam acquired 51% stake in United Arab Can Manufacturing Ltd for $122 million.
In February 2015, Rexam accepted Ball Corporation's sweetened takeover offer of £4.4 billion ($6.7 billion), a deal which created one of the world's biggest consumer-packaging suppliers. Ball was required to sell eight U.S. aluminum can plants. In June 2016, Rexam was acquired by Ball Corporation for $8.4 billion.
Operations
Rexam had around 55 plants in over 20 countries and employed around 8,000 people.[ Its operations span Europe, the Americas and Asia.][
]
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Manufacturing companies based in London
Glassmaking companies of England
Packaging companies of the United Kingdom
Manufacturing companies established in 1881
1923 establishments in England
British companies established in 1881
Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
Companies disestablished in 2016