Alcan buys Canadian glassware specialist
Interglass, a privately owned company that makes glass vials and
ampoules, in a move that expands Alcan Packaging's position in the
North American pharmaceutical packaging market.
Interglass, located in Toronto, Canada, specialises in the conversion of glass tubing and employs 80 employees. It generated 2004 sales of C$11 million (€6.9m) and is a qualified supplier to the North American pharmaceutical market.
"Interglass will extend Alcan's access to new product markets in Canada through the production and sale of high quality glass vials and ampoules," said Christel Bories, president and chief executive of Alcan Packaging. She added that the Canadian firm is a good complement to Alcan's existing glass tubing operations in the US.
Interglass's product range includes ampoules made of clear and amber borosilicate glass, which is an ideal material for packaging sensitive and critical pharmaceutical solutions, including specialty reagents and standard medical analytical applications, because it offers high standards of chemical stability (hydrolytic resistance) and of thermal shock resistance.
Alcan expects the integration of Interglass to be completed in the second quarter of 2005. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
