Crown Holdings, Inc

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Crown Holdings, Inc.

One Crown Way
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19154-4599
U.S.A.
Telephone: (215) 698-5100
Fax: (215) 698-5201
Web site: http://www.crowncork.com

Public Company
Founded: 1892 as Crown Cork & Seal Company
Incorporated: 2003
Employees: 24,055
Sales: $6.91 billion (2005)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: CCK
NAIC: 332431 Metal Can Manufacturing; 332115 Crown and Closure Manufacturing; 332439 Other Metal Container Manufacturing; 551112 Offices of Other Holding Companies

Crown Holdings, Inc., is one of the world's leading manufacturers of packaging products for consumer goods, making one out of every five beverage cans used in the world and one out of every three food cans used in North America and Europe. In addition to making metal food and beverage cans, Crown also produces other metal packaging, including aerosol cans, specialty packaging, health and beauty care packaging, can ends, and closures and crowns. The company also manufactures can making equipment. With 151 plants located in 42 countries, the company derives about 70 percent of its revenues from outside the United States; its two largest foreign markets are the United Kingdom, generating approximately 12 percent of total sales, and France, about 10 percent. Crown Holdings was formed in 2003 as a holding company principally for Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., which is now a wholly owned Crown Holdings subsidiary.

EARLY HISTORY: FROM CROWNS
TO CANS

The company traces its origins to 1892 when William Painter invented the "crown cork," a metal crown used to package soft drinks and beer in bottles. Painter soon started the Crown Cork & Seal Company of Baltimore. He quickly expanded the company overseas and by the time of his death in 1906 the company had manufacturing operations in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Brazil. After recovering from the disruptions of World War I, Crown Cork survived the Prohibition era by shifting its production from beer to soft drinks.

In 1927 the company was incorporated in New York City as Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. following its merger with New Process Cork Company Inc. and New York Improved Patents Corporation. The following year the company formed the Crown Cork International Corporation as a holding company for subsidiaries engaged in bottle crown and other cork business outside the United States. Crown Cork's early entry into the foreign market gave Crown Cork an advantage over its competitors in the container and closure fields.

Crown Cork did not even venture into the can making business until 1936 when it purchased the Acme Can Company and began building its first large can plant in Philadelphia under the name Crown Can. While the middle of the Great Depression would seem to be the worst possible time to enter a capital-intensive industry, Crown's can operation was successful right from the start. Processed canning was quickly taking the place of home canning as the preferred way to preserve and store perishable goods. For this reason the container industry, for most of the 20th century, remained immune to the economic cycles that plagued most other types of businesses, industrial or otherwise.

CONNELLY AND THE
TURNAROUND

Crown Cork & Seal was an enigma within the container business because it had achieved financial results that contradicted industry logic. Profit margins in can manufacturing had been small and shrinking for decades, and can makers such as American and Continental had been relying on diversification and economies of scale to create profits. Crown Cork & Seal, on the other hand, had neither expanded into noncontainer fields nor sought to augment its own can making program by purchasing other small can operations. Yet it managed to maintain an earnings growth rate of 20 percent a year. How did it do this?

The answer can be traced back to 1957, when John F. Connelly, an Irishman and son of a Philadelphia blacksmith, became its president. At that time Crown Cork lacked strong leadership and was dangerously close to bankruptcy. It suffered a first-quarter loss of over $600,000, and Bankers Trust was calling in a $2.5 million loan, with an additional $4.5 million due by the end of the year.

Connelly took dramatic measures. He halted can production altogether and filled the company's remaining orders with a large stockpile of unpurchased cans that had been allowed to accumulate. The customers did not object, and the money saved by selling old inventory instead of producing new cans brought Crown Cork close to solvency. In addition, unprofitable and unpromising product lines, such as ice cube trays, were immediately discontinued.

Connelly also reduced overhead costs, particularly those incurred by redundant labor. In one 20-month span the payroll was cut by 25 percent, with pink slips issued to managers and unskilled workers alike. The moves were drastic but necessary. By the end of 1957 the company was making both cans and profits. The following year Crown Cork moved its corporate headquarters to Philadelphia.

Once the initial bankruptcy crisis had passed, Connelly directed Crown Cork & Seal with renewed energy into two areas within which Crown had traditionally held an advantage: aerosol cans and foreign container markets. In the years immediately preceding Connelly's tenure, the company, while not neglecting these markets, had not pursued them with the vigor they warranted.

Crown Cork & Seal had pioneered the aerosol can in 1946 and Connelly was shrewd enough to recognize its potential. Hair spray, bathroom cleaning supplies, insecticides, and many other household products would come to be staples for the American consumer and would be marketed in aerosol dispensers.

In 1963, for example, Crown installed two aerosol can product lines in its Toronto factory, thinking that it would take the market five years to absorb the output. Within a year, however, another plant was required to handle the orders. A decade later, the same situation was repeated in Mexico. Only in the late 1970s and 1980s, when the negative environmental impact of aerosol cans became widely known (it was discovered that aerosol containers expel fluorocarbons, which destroy the earth's fragile ozone layer), did Crown begin to reexamine this sector of its business. The company was among the first to develop an aerosol can that did not propel fluorocarbons into the atmosphere.

COMPANY PERSPECTIVES

We are focused on operational excellence, world class manufacturing performance and producing the highest quality products for our customers and are also committed to Crown's heritage of innovative brand building packaging and technologically advanced solutions to our customers' ever changing packaging needs.

Looking ahead, we are excited about our organic growth opportunities in the emerging markets of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China and Eastern Europe. At the same time, we recognize the fast changing world marketplace we operate in and the demand customers, suppliers and competitors put on us to change with it.

We are sure your company is equal to the task.

Connelly invested considerable capital to reclaim Crown's preeminence overseas in closures and cans. Between 1955 and 1960 the company received what were called "pioneer rights" from many foreign governments seeking to build up their industrial sectors. These "rights" gave Crown first chance at any new can or closure business being introduced into these developing nations. This kind of leverage permitted the company to make large profits while using industrial equipment that was, by U.S. standards, obsolete. Moreover, the pioneer rights allowed Crown to pay no taxes for up to ten years.

Crown's international operations were managed and staffed only by nationals of each country, with no Americans on Crown's payroll outside the United States. Connelly sent the foreign plants outdated but still-functioning equipment and let them begin. Crown profited from its disposal of antiquated machinery and created a far-ranging network of semiautonomous subsidiaries in the process.

CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT

In the early 1960s, the can industry was losing more and more ground to the nonreturnable bottle. It appeared that cans would never be able to capture the lion's share of the beverage container market. For this reason American Can and Continental began experimenting with large-scale diversification into noncontainer fields. Crown Cork, however, did not follow the example; in fact, Connelly went against the prevailing wisdom and entrenched Crown Cork still further into the consumer product can business, spending $121 million on a capital improvement program initiated in 1962.

KEY DATES

1892:: William Painter invents the "crown cork," and soon starts the Crown Cork & Seal Company of Baltimore.
1927:: Company is incorporated in New York City as Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. following its merger with New Process Cork Company Inc. and New York Improved Patents Corporation.
1936:: Acme Can Company is purchased, marking entry into can making.
1946:: Crown Cork & Seal is the first to develop the aerosol can.
1957:: John F. Connelly takes over presidency and turns the company around.
1958:: Company moves its corporate headquarters to Philadelphia.
1962:: Company spends $121 million on a capital improvement program.
1970:: R. Hoe & Company, a metal decorating firm, is acquired.
1977:: Net sales reach $1 billion.
1989:: William J. Avery takes over company leadership.
1989-: Continental Can's Canadian, U.S., and
1991:: overseas plants are purchased in three deals, costing a total of $791 million.
1992:: Company pays $519 million for CONSTAR International, Inc., a leading maker of plastic containers for beverages, food, household items, and chemicals.
1993:: Cleveland-based Van Dorn Company, a maker of metal, plastic, and composite containers, is acquired.
1996:: Acquisition of France's CarnaudMetalbox S.A. is completed, vaulting Crown Cork into the top position in the global packaging market.
2001:: Crown suffers a net loss of $972 million.
2002:: Constar is spun off through an initial public offering; $1 billion charge is taken to write down value of CarnaudMetalbox acquisition; a net loss of $1.21 billion is recorded.
2003:: As part of a refinancing plan, a new holding company, Crown Holdings, Inc., is formed, with Crown Cork & Seal becoming its main operating subsidiary.
2005:: Company divests its plastic closures business.

In 1963, just as the can making industry was experiencing its first recession in decades, the pull-tab pop-top was introduced. In the words of one can maker at the time, the new and seemingly simple innovation made opening a can "as easy as pulling the ring off a grenade, and a lot safer." The new pull-tab opener revolutionized the industry while helping to dramatically increase canned beverage consumption. At the same time, Americans began drinking more beer and soft drinks than ever before, and the can industry experienced a seven-year period of unprecedented growth. Crown Cork, an early entrant in the pull-tab can market, performed even better than American Can and Continental, and its year-to-year profits increased by double digit percentages.

In the early 1970s the beverage can market leveled out, with many of the major brewers and soft drink producers developing facilities to manufacture their own cans. A number of can companies, particularly American and Continental, did not adjust well to the diminishing growth in beverage can demand. They were overextended and operating at a greater capacity than necessary. Crown Cork, which did not rely as heavily on can customers such as Schlitz and Pepsi, was not as severely affected when beverage companies began manufacturing their own cans. Furthermore, Crown's foreign enterprises, which were accounting for close to 40 percent of total sales, were expanding rapidly. They more than compensated for any domestic decrease in revenues. Crown also became involved in the printing aspect of the industry by acquiring the R. Hoe & Company metal decorating firm in 1970. With this addition to its operation, Crown had the equipment necessary for imprinting color lithography upon its cans and bottle caps. By 1974 Crown had a consolidated net profit of over $39 million, double that of its 1967 results. By 1977 net sales had reached $1 billion.

The first widespread production of two-piece aluminum cans began in the mid-1970s. Aluminum was relatively expensive, but simpler to manufacture, lighter for the consumer, and recyclable. Connelly, however, once again went against industry trends. Just as he had refused to participate in the diversification trend years before, he steered Crown Cork clear of the aluminum two-piece can. He decided instead to concentrate on the old-style three-piece steel can that had been the mainstay of the industry for years. Many industry analysts regarded this strategy as particularly risky since the Food and Drug Administration had indicated that it might outlaw the three-piece can because the lead used to solder the three seams of the can was considered a health hazard. To circumvent this problem Crown began welding rather than soldering its cans.

Connelly was against switching from steel to aluminum for two reasons. First, by relying on the steel can the company was relieved of the high research and development costs necessary for changing to aluminum can manufacturing. Second, Connelly realized that there were only a handful of corporations selling aluminum in bulk. This meant that the can makers would be paying a premium price for their raw materials. Crown, by using steel, could play the various steel producers off one another and drive the price of its materials down. The strategy worked, and Connelly's company was making profits while his larger and more progressive competitors spent hundreds of millions of dollars on retooling for aluminum cans.

Connelly, it seemed, made very few mistakes. In all of his years as president, the company never suffered a quarterly loss and was virtually debt-free. During the 1980s, when competitors were spending and buying themselves into debt, Crown sat conservatively waiting. By the end of the 1980s the company was ready to position itself as a major player in the industry, taking advantage of weak economies and buying competitors' assets at low prices.

ACQUIRING ITS WAY
TO THE TOP

The man that led Crown's amazing growth in the 1990s was not Connelly, but his protégé, William J. Avery. Avery joined Crown in 1959 as a management trainee and then worked in manufacturing and marketing. Connelly watched Avery's potential grow and groomed him to take over the company. One day, Connelly, who was described as an "ultraconservative, tight-lipped, and tightfisted boss," called Avery into his office and told him to stop being intimidated. Said Avery in a 1993 article in Financial World, "He told me, 'Bill, I am very disappointed in you. You have to set your sights higher. You have to think of taking my job.'" Avery was named president in 1989, and after a period of diminishing health, Connelly died in July 1990, leaving Avery to take over control of the company.

Avery remarked in Financial World, "When I became president in 1989, I had to light a fire and get the company going again. The company's growth had slowed down in the 1980s. John Connelly's health was not good, the company had no debt and we were very vulnerable to a takeover." Avery began acquiring companies at a rapid pace. In fact, in five years he purchased 20 businesses with combined sales in the billions. Under Avery, Crown's revenues doubled to $3.8 billion in 1993 and reached almost $4.5 billion in 1994.

Avery approached newer markets in developing countries cautiously through joint ventures. The acquisition of Continental Can's U.S., Canadian, and overseas plants was accomplished in three deals from December 1989 to May 1991. It cost Crown $791 million, but gave it several foreign joint ventures and put the company in Korea, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Venezuela, and China, where many of its U.S. competitors were not. This purchase brought in $2 billion in new sales, almost doubling Crown's size. Along with this purchase came Continental's technical center located outside of Chicago. Under Connelly, spending for research and development was almost nonexistent. By the late 1980s, however, Crown's customers wanted more than just lower prices; they also wanted new products such as lighter weight, custom-designed cans and specific metal coatings. Continental's research center gave Crown the ability to develop new cans to meet their specific needs.

In October 1992 Crown paid $519 million for CONSTAR International, Inc., a leading maker of plastic containers for beverages, food, household items, and chemicals. In April 1993 Crown acquired the Cleveland-based Van Dorn Company, a $314 million maker of metal, plastic, and composite containers for a variety of industries. The total merger was valued at $175 million and enabled Crown to improve its economies of scale, as well as add to its technological and marketing expertise.

Other ventures during this time included an agreement in China with Shanghai Crown Maling Packaging Co. Ltd. to manufacture aluminum beverage cans and a joint venture with a Vietnamese company to produce two-piece aluminum beverage cans. In 1994 Crown Cork ranked as the world's second largest aluminum can maker with the expansion of its Aluplata facility near Buenos Aires, which included the addition of a second can line capable of producing 1,600 cans a minute, for a total of more than 800 million cans a year. In 1995 Crown announced that it was building a new $21.3 million corporate headquarters in Philadelphia; it moved into the new quarters in 1997.

In May 1995 Crown Cork announced that it would acquire France's CarnaudMetalbox S.A. One of the largest packaging companies in Europe and the number one maker of metal and plastic packaging on that continent, Carnaud was formed in 1989 from the merger of Groupe Carnaud S.A. of France and MB Group PLC of the United Kingdom. The deal, which was valued at $5.2 billion in stock and debt, was not completed until February 1996 thanks to an in-depth antitrust investigation launched by European Union authorities. The antitrust officials finally approved the takeover after the companies agreed to divest several aerosol can operations in Europe; the facilities were subsequently sold in September 1996 to U.S. Can Corporation for $52.8 million. Meantime, Crown sold its U.S.-based paint- and oblong-can operations to BWAY Corporation.

The completion of the Carnaud purchase vaulted Crown Cork into the top position in the global packaging market. The combined operations seemed to fit nearly perfectly, with Crown a major player in the United States, Carnaud a major player in Europe, and both companies with small but growing presences in Asia. The deal also provided Crown with a foothold in the specialty packaging area of cosmetics and perfume packaging, such as lipstick cases, mascara applicators, compacts, and fragrance pumps; this sector was a desirable one because of its higher profit margins. The acquisition also proved a boon for Crown Cork shareholders as the company resumed payment of a cash dividend in March 1996, the first such payment since August 1956; under Connelly, the company had adopted a policy of using cash to repurchase common shares instead of issuing cash dividends.

Crown Cork anticipated being able to wrest about $100 million in annual savings by eliminating jobs and closing plants in the aftermath of the Carnaud acquisition. In 1996 the company shuttered 40 plants and regional administrative offices, reorganized an additional 52 plants, and reduced the combined workforce by 6,500. Further restructurings followed during the next three years, including the closure of 13 additional factories and a further elimination of 2,900 jobs during 1998. Crown also sold its Crown-Simplimatic business, which was involved in manufacturing various packaging machinery, to a management-led group in 1997. Two years later the company sold its composite can business to Sonoco Products Company for $44 million.

Even with these attempts to increase efficiency and divest noncore operations, Crown Cork saw its profits fall in the late 1990s, at the same time that revenues were flat. There were multiple reasons for the setback. Aluminum producers cut output and raised prices starting in 1994. The strength of the U.S. dollar reduced the value of overseas sales, which made up 60 percent of Crown's overall sales in the late 1990s, following conversion to the U.S. dollar. Crown also faced a formidable new rival starting in May 1997 when Pechiney S.A. and Schmalbach-Lubeca AG spun off their can making operations into a new venture called Impress Metal Packaging Holdings. Impress soon slashed can prices, forcing Crown to follow suit.

In 1999 lingering weakness in Crown's European operations were a prime factor in a 6.9 percent drop in net sales, to $7.73 billion. Profits were hurt that year when the company took a $106 million after-tax charge to cover estimated liability stemming from lawsuits filed by workers with alleged asbestos-related injuries. In 1963 Crown Cork had bought Mundet Cork Corp., a firm based in North Bergen, New Jersey, that manufactured cork bottle caps and insulation containing asbestos. Wanting only the bottle-cap business, Crown sold the insulation business about three months later. It nevertheless became embroiled in the controversial arena of asbestos lawsuits because of the legal principle of "successor liability." By the end of the 1990s, Crown Cork faced tens of thousands of asbestos-related claims.

ESCAPE FROM NEAR
BANKRUPTCY

In 2000 Crown introduced SuperEnd can ends, which used about 10 percent less metal than traditional can ends. That year, the company's struggles dragged on, stemming from lower selling prices, higher raw-material costs, the continued strength of the U.S. dollar versus the euro, and a still heavy debt load of well over $5 billion, a hangover from the purchase of CarnaudMetalbox. The firm closed three plants in the United States and South America, restructured its European operations, and cut 1,150 employees from its global workforce. Crown Cork took another charge to boost its reserves for asbestos-related claims, this one totaling $166 million after-tax. The various charges for the year coupled with the difficult operating environment added up to a net loss for the year of $176 million.

Early in 2001 Avery retired from the company. Taking over as CEO (and soon chairman as well) was John W. Conway, who had been president and chief operating officer and had joined Crown Cork through the acquisition of Continental Can International in 1991. Conway's first year was a rough one as weak demand for the company's products and several large charges propelled Crown to a net loss of $972 million; near the end of the year the company's stock had dropped under $1 per share, having traded as high as $36 in 1999. In addition to making another, though smaller, increase in its asbestos reserves, Crown incurred restructuring charges related to a plan to close four U.S. facilities, sell the firm's interests in Central, East, and South Africa, and lay off 700 employees.

In an attempt to bring the debt level under control, Crown also began shedding assets. In the opening months of 2002 the company sold its fragrance pump manufacturing business to Rexam PLC for $105 million and its Europe-based pharmaceutical packaging business to a company backed by HSBC Private Equity Ltd. In November 2002 Crown retreated from its diversification into plastic packaging when it spun off 89.5 percent of its shares in Constar International through an initial public offering. In addition to booking a $213 million loss on the Constar sale, Crown also took a $1 billion charge in 2002 to reflect the declining value of its CarnaudMetalbox acquisition. Although the company consequently posted a net loss of $1.21 billion for the year, there were some positive notes. On the asbestos front, Crown again had to boost its reserves for settling asbestos-related lawsuits, but the addition this time was only $30 million. The asset sales helped cut total debt by 24 percent, to $4 billion. Even more importantly, the company's business operations finally appeared to be on the upswing, as operating income jumped 53 percent, to $481 million.

Having averted a much predicted sojourn into bankruptcy, Crown Cork further strengthened its financial position in February 2003 when a restructuring of its debt eliminated any short-term maturities. As part of this refinancing, the company set up a new holding company, Crown Holdings, Inc., which became Crown Cork & Seal's publicly traded parent company. After trimming its losses to just $32 million in 2003, Crown Holdings returned to the black the following year, posting profits of $51 million. Its stock ended the year at $13.74 per share, evidence that Wall Street was back onboard.

In October 2005 Crown sold its plastic closures business, maker of caps for consumer goods and generator of about $675 million in annual revenues, to PAI Partners, a European private equity group, for $690 million. This largely ended the company's involvement in plastic packaging, returning it to a focus on metal cans for beverages and food. Revenues for the year increased 5.8 percent, to $6.91 billion, and gross profits surged nearly 12 percent, to $900 million. Crown, however, returned to the red, recording a net loss of $362 million after taking various charges for early debt extinguishment, asbestos litigation expenses, restructuring, and foreign-currency fluctuations. Yet the firm appeared to be well positioned for the longer term, as it managed to improve its cash flow and liquidity and further extended its debt-maturity dates. Long-term debt had been reduced to $3.2 billion by the end of 2005.

As its core operations were improving, Crown Holdings began seeking opportunities for organic growth in emerging markets, particularly in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific region. The company expanded its facilities in Jordan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, opened a new plant in Tunisia in August 2006, and announced plans to build new factories in Kazakhstan and Cambodia. During the second quarter of 2006, Crown also moved to complete its exit from plastic by selling or entering into agreements to sell its remaining European plastics businesses, operations pulling in yearly revenues of approximately $150 million.

Beth Watson Highman

Updated, David E. Salamie

PRINCIPAL SUBSIDIARIES

Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc.; Crown Consultants, Inc.; NWR, Inc.; CROWN Americas LLC; CROWN Risdon USA, Inc.; CROWN Packaging Technology, Inc.; CROWN Cork & Seal USA, Inc.; Crown Financial Management, Inc.; Crown Beverage Packaging, Inc.; Crown International Holdings, Inc.; CROWN Packaging Argentina SA; CROWN Verpakking België NV (Belgium); CROWN Speciality Packaging België NV (Belgium); Crown Brasil Holdings Ltda. (Brazil); CROWN Embalagens S.A. (Brazil); CROWN Tampas S.A. (Brazil); Crown Canadian Holdings ULC; CROWN Metal Packaging Canada Inc.; CROWN Metal Packaging Canada LP; CROWN Risdon Canada Inc.; CROWN Beverage Cans Beijing Limited (China); Foshan Continental Can Co. Limited (China); Foshan Crown Easy-Opening End Co., Limited (China); CROWN Beverage Cans Huizhou Limited (China); CROWN Beverage Cans Shanghai Limited (China); Crown Colombiana, S.A. (Colombia); CROWN Pakkaus OY (Finland); Crown European Holdings SA (France); CROWN Europe Group Services (France); Crown Cork & Seal Finance S.A.; CROWN Emballage France SAS; Crown Developpement SAS (France); CROWN Polyflex SAS (France); Société de Participations CarnaudMetalbox SAS (France); CROWN Bevcan France SAS; CROWN Verpackungen Deutschland GmbH (Germany); CROWN Nahrungsmitteldosen GmbH (Germany); Crown Cork & Seal Deutschland Holdings GmbH (Germany); CROWN Speciality Packaging Deutschland GmbH (Germany); CROWN Nahrungsmitteldosen Deutschland GmbH (Germany); CROWN Verschlüsse Deutschland GmbH (Germany); CROWN Hellas Can SA (Greece); CROWN Magyarorszag Csomagoloipari KFT (Hungary); CROWN Packaging Ireland Ltd.; FA.BA. Sud spa (Italy); CROWN Risdon Italia S.r.l. (Italy); CROWN Aerosols Italia Srl (Italy); CROWN Bevcan Italia S.r.l. (Italy); CROWN Middle East Can Co. Ltd. (Jordan); CROWN Bevcan Kazakhstan LLP; CROWN Société Malgache d'Emballages Métalliques (CROWN SMEM) (Madagascar); CROWN Beverage Cans Malaysia Sdn Bhd; CROWN Envases Mexico, S.A. de C.V.; Carnaud Maroc (Morocco); CROWN Verpakking Nederland NV (Netherlands); CROWN Aerosols Nederland BV (Netherlands); CROWN Packaging Polska Sp.z.o.o. (Poland); Crown Cork & Seal de Portugal Embalagens S.A.; CROWN Arabia Can Company Ltd. (Saudi Arabia); CROWN Asia-Pacific Holdings Limited (Singapore); CROWN Beverage Cans Singapore Pte. Ltd.; CROWN Packaging Slovakia s.r.o.; CarnaudMetalbox Food South Africa (Pty) Ltd.; CROWN Bevcan Espana S.L. (Spain); Envases Metalicos Manlleu SA (Spain); CROWN Food Packaging (Thailand) Public Company Limited; CROWN Bevcan and Closures (Thailand) Company Limited; CROWN Bevcan Türkiye Seal Ambalaj Ve Ticaret (Turkey); CROWN Emirates Company Limited (United Arab Emirates); Carnaud-Metalbox Engineering PLC (U.K.); CarnaudMetalbox Group UK Limited; CarnaudMetalbox Overseas Limited (U.K.); CROWN Packaging UK PLC; Crown Cork & Seal Finance PLC (U.K.); Crown UK Holdings Limited; CROWN Speciality Packaging UK plc; CROWN Aerosols UK Limited; CROWN Beverage Cans Hanoi Limited (Vietnam); CROWN Beverage Cans Saigon Limited (Vietnam).

PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS

Americas Division; European Division; Asia-Pacific Division.

PRINCIPAL COMPETITORS

Impress Holdings B.V.; Ball Corporation; AptarGroup, Inc.; Rexam PLC; Alcoa Inc.; Metal Container Corporation; BWAY Corporation; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Silgan Holdings Inc.; Amcor Limited.