France-based Saint-Gobain is in the process of putting its glass packaging unit Verallia up for sale to focus on higher-margin home and construction products, with Ardagh confirming that it is monitoring the sale of the unit.
The company will launch a competitive process for the sale of Verallia which employs close to 10,000 people and operates industrial plants in 13 countries.
Verallia reported sales of €2.435bn (excluding Verallia North America) in 2013.
The formal bidding process will be based on second-half earnings to reach an agreement with a buyer before summer of 2015 after consulting the relevant works councils.
Reuters reported that a spokesperson from Ardagh that has bought Verallia's North American unit earlier this year said: "Ardagh will follow the Verallia process with some interest but it will not allow that process to disturb its IPO timeline."
Saint-Gobain is also planning to buy a controlling stake in construction chemicals group Sika for around €2.3bn ($2.83bn).
Chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain Pierre-André de Chalendar said: "The two transactions - the plan for which we are announcing today - will accelerate the Group's strategic refocus on the design, production and distribution of innovative, high-performance solutions for habitat and industry.
"The transactions meet the objectives we announced in November 2013 to raise the growth potential and reduce the capital intensity of our businesses, increase our presence in emerging countries and in the US, and expand our range of differentiated products supported by strong brands. We are looking forward to working with Sika to enhance the growth potential of this excellent business."
However, Sika said in a statement that its board and group management does not support the change of control of Sika to Saint-Gobain. Currently, the Burkard family is a majority shareholder in the company.
