Rexam history

Three of William Bowater's five sons joined him in partnership, and the firm--now renamed W.V. Bowater & Sons--gradually prospered and expanded, although in 1905 the personnel comprised only the four partners, six clerks, two typists, and an office boy.

Bowater's first step towards becoming a paper manufacturer was the purchase of a site at Northfleet on the south side of the Thames estuary near Gravesend in May 1914.

A grandson of the founder, he entered the firm in 1921.

In 1927, at the age of 32, he became chairman and managing director of W.V. Bowater & Sons and was the leading figure in the firm for the following three and a half decades.

Rothermere's backing allowed Bowater to raise the finance to double the output of the Northfleet mill in 1928.

By the end of 1930 the output of Bowater's mills was 175,000 tons of newsprint per year, 22 percent of the U.K.'s total output.

1936: Purchase of two more paper mills gives the company 60 percent of the U.K. newsprint market and makes it the number one newsprint company in Europe.

In 1937 profits were squeezed hard by a large and unforeseen rise in pulp prices engineered by a cartel of Scandinavian producers.

1938: Company expands into pulp with the purchase of pulp mills in Sweden, Norway, and Canada.

1939-62: Expanding on Both Sides of the Atlantic

The firm was soon rewarded, and in 1946 it was necessary to add a further 75,000 tons capacity at Corner Brook to meet the order-book.

Financing the simultaneous expansions in the United Kingdom and the United States almost proved too much, but once again Bowater's personality saved the day: 'The crowning glory of my business life,' remarked Bowater when production began at Calhoun in October 1954.

A plan made in 1956 envisaged a 60 percent increase in the company's North American newsprint production to 840,000 tons per annum and a 40 percent expansion in the United Kingdom to 860,000 tons.

Matters were made worse by production problems at the new Catawba pulp mill and by the move to prestigious new headquarters in London's Knightsbridge in 1958, which doubled per capita office costs.

In 1959 Bowater entered a joint venture to produce pulp and newsprint in New Zealand to supply the Australian market.

Retrenchment was a hallmark of Bowater's strategy in the decade 1962-72.

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Overcapacity in U.K. newsprint was tackled by the conversion of machines to other types of papermaking, and eventually by closures, including Northfleet in 1973.

The firm also operated as a commodity trader on a large scale, in 1978 acquiring Gibbs Nathaniel, an importer of dried fruit, edible nuts, and other foodstuffs.

Tissue manufacturing was the firm's foremost activity in Australia following the acquisition of Scott's 50 percent interest in Bowater-Scott of Australia in 1986, in return for the sale of Bowater's interest in Bowater-Scott's U.K. firm to Scott.

1987: North Carolina-based Rexham Corporation, maker of coated and laminated products, is acquired for US$240 million.

1990: Norton Opax PLC, a specialized print and packaging group, is acquired for £382 million; company changes its name to Bowater PLC.

1993: Specialty Coatings International Inc., a United States maker of coated products, is bought for £297.7 million.

In late 1994 Bowater strengthened its cosmetics packaging operations through the £66 million acquisition of France-based SOFAB SA, a maker of pumps and valves used to dispense fragrances and cosmetics, as well as pharmaceuticals.

Then in early 1995 the company completed its gradual exit from the paper industry through the sale of its Australian tissue operations to Carter Holt Harvey of New Zealand for A$342 million (£158 million).

Sales in 1996 were subsequently flat and the company's profit margin fell to 7.9 percent.

Lancaster and Börjesson responded by reorganizing the company into seven market-focused sectors: food and beverage packaging (renamed specialty food packaging in 1997), industrial packaging, healthcare packaging, beauty packaging, printing, coated films and papers, and building and engineering.

It also provided Rexam with a much enlarged presence within Continental Europe, from which only about 12 percent of revenues were derived in 1998.

In 2005, Rexam disposed of its glass manufacturing businesses to Ardagh Glass Group so as to concentrate on its beverage can production worldwide.

In June 2011, Rexam agreed to sell its lid-making operations to the United States-based Berry Plasticsfor £222 million (US$360 million).

In September 2012, Silgan Holdings Inc. acquired its plastic thermoformed food business.”

On February, 13, 2014, Rexam has said that it acquired 51% stake in United Arab Can Manufacturing Ltd for $122 million.”

In June 2016, Ardagh Group acquired the assets required to be divested by Ball Corporation and Rexam PLC to gain approval for the acquisition of Rexam PLC by Ball Corporation.