Ardagh says there has been no progress on flotation

Ardagh's chairman and biggest shareholder, Paul Coulson, has told industry analysts that there is "nothing going on" with the packaging group's €2 billion plan to float part of its business on Wall Street.

The Irish group, which produces cans and bottles for the likes of Heineken and Coca-Cola, has also confirmed that it will bid for factories that regulators have told two rivals, Ball and Rexam, to offload as a condition of allowing the pair to merge.

Ardagh shelved plans to float its metals division, Oressa, in New York late last year, citing "challenging market conditions", but insisted that it still intended to go ahead with the share sale, which could raise €2 billion.

However, Wall Street endured a dismal January and February, with billions of dollars wiped off the value of indices and stocks, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 down about 5 per cent.

On analysts’ questions on its annual report, Mr Coulson conceded that the market for companies to offer their shares for sale to the public for the first time is closed, “so there’s nothing going on there”.

Ardagh took the first formal steps towards floating Oressa on the New York Stock Exchange by filing papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US markets regulator.

It said it would continue to update this material to ensure that it would be ready to go to the market when conditions were right.

Ardagh planned to use some of the €2 billion raised from Oressa to pay off part of its €5.4 billion debt.

The Irish group built up those liabilities during an acquisition spree that saw it buying competitors across Europe and the US.

It is now eyeing 12 plants that drinks-can makers Ball and Rexam must sell to satisfy EU and US competition requirements ahead of their proposed €5.7 billion merger.

‘Boost earnings’

Mr Coulson said those operations could boost earnings in its European and US divisions and confirmed that Ardagh was looking at them.

“It’s been fairly widely publicised that we’re one of the parties looking at the assets to be divested out of the Ball-Rexam merger and that is something we are looking at. It’s very early days in that situation.”

However, he stressed that Ardagh did not want to borrow too much. Some reports have valued the Bell-Rexam businesses at €2.7 billion, but Mr Coulson made no reference to a price.

The Irish group has not bid for anything since buying Verallia North America from Saint Gobain two years ago.

Its sales were up 3 per cent in 2015 at €5.2 billion, while it earned a profit before tax of €84 million, against a €394 million loss in 2014.

Total assets on December 31st were €6.33 billion.

Ardagh has its roots in the old Irish Glass Bottle Company. It produces tins and bottles for companies such as Coca Cola, John West, Guinness owner Diageo and AB Inbev, which brews Budweiser.

It is one of the biggest players in its industry in the world.