SUPPLIER SHORTS

Packaging materials supplier Pactiv Corporation, Lake Forest, Ill., said it agreed to be acquired in a $6 billion deal by Reynolds Group Holdings Limited, a global competitor based in Chicago. Reynolds is a wholly owned subsidiary of New Zealand-based Rank Group Limited, which is owned by Graeme Hart. Officials said they expect to complete the deal by the end of 2010, subject to Pactiv’s shareholder approval, regulatory approvals, and customary closing conditions.

With 2009 sales of $3.4 billion, Pactiv said it derives more than 80 percent of its sales from market sectors in which it holds the No. 1 or No. 2 market-share position. Pactiv’s Hefty® brand products include waste bags, slider storage bags, disposable tableware, and disposable cookware. Pactiv’s foodservice/food packaging offering also is one of the broadest in the industry, officials said.

Reynolds Group Holdings Limited is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of consumer food and beverage packaging and storage products and operates through four primary segments: SIG, Evergreen, Reynolds Consumer, and Closure Systems International.



Key Technology Inc., Walla Walla, Wash., said it hired Steve Johnson as product marketing manager for the company’s process systems line of products. Johnson is responsible for managing activities that support the development and sales of Key’s Smart Shaker suite of vibratory conveyors, which includes the Iso-Flo and Impulse conveyors. He also manages Key’s sizing and grading systems, as well as fresh-cut processing solutions such as washers and dryers, and other select processing equipment.

Johnson has than 20 years of operational leadership and engineering experience, including four years as senior manufacturing engineer with Key Technology. Most recently, he was general manager for Gordon Composites.