Amcor has released its new identity and branding for its newly demerged Amcor Australasia Packaging and Distribution business, with the new entity to be known as Orora.
At Amcor's annual general meeting in Melbourne, Amcor CEO Ken Mackenzie said the demerging of Orora, which will cover the company's glass and metal cans business in Australasia and packaging distribution in Australasia and North America, was proceeding on track and should be completed by mid-December this year.
“Over the past eight years, the Australasian business has undergone a significant transformation that has resulted in Orora being well positioned for an exciting future as a separately listed public company,” he said.
MacKenzie said this had included over $1 billion of investment in the local business, including its giant B9 recycled paper mill in Sydney, a new glass plant in South Australia and an additional metal can line in New Zealand. This was coupled with the divestment of non-core businesses, including the divestment of eight plants.
“As a result of all these initiatives the business has an $81 million cost improvement opportunity that should underpin earnings growth over the next few years and position Orora well for the next phase of its journey as an independent company,” he said.
He said a scheme booklet outlining the details of the demerger will be sent to Amcor shareholders in November.
Shareholders will then vote on approval of the demerger on 9 December. If approved, the demerged company will start trading in its own right from 17 December, and will commence trading on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) on 18 December.
Amcor shareholders will be offered one Orora share for each Amcor share.
He said the businesses that will constitute Orora had achieved a solid start to the financial year, with both the Australasian business and the North American packaging distribution operation achieving stronger results in the first quarter of the financial year than they achieved in the corresponding period in 2012.
He said the decision to demerge Orora from the core operations would add value to all its operations.
“To be a successful market leader a company needs to be focused in terms of product portfolio and markets,” he said.
“The rationale [for the demerger] is compelling.”
Amcor's senior vice-president corporate affairs, John Murray, said the name Orora had been chosen after an internal competition within Amcor worldwide which drew more than 1500 submissions.
He said the Orora name had been submitted a number of times, independently, by employees across its global operations.
“It was first and foremost a popular choice by our own people,” he said.
Murray said the name also reflected a “new beginning”, denoting a sunrise business.
Amcor says the identity of its new Orora business denotes a new beginning for its Australasian businesses.
