CCL Industries buys 2 Avery Dennison businesses

CCL Industries to buy 2 Avery Dennison businesses for $500M; Dennison 4th-qtr profit doubles

NEW YORK (AP) -- CCL Industries is buying two business units from label and office products maker Avery Dennison for $500 million in cash.

The transaction includes Avery Dennison Corp.'s office and consumer products and its designed and engineered solutions businesses. The businesses had combined revenue of about $910 million in 2012.

Avery Dennison Chairman, President and CEO Dean A. Scarborough said in a statement on Wednesday that the deal will allow the company to concentrate on its pressure-sensitive materials and retail branding and information solutions businesses.

CCL Industries Inc., which is based in Canada, makes labels, containers and plastic tubes.

Avery Dennison had planned to sell its office supply business to Post-it Note maker 3M Co. last year for $550 million, but the deal was called off because of antitrust concerns.

CCL Industries President and CEO Geoffrey Martin said that the buyout is expected to add to its earnings per share starting in 2014.

Avery Dennison said that it plans to use its anticipated sale proceeds of about $400 million for stock buybacks and to make an additional pension contribution.

The deal is expected to close by the middle of the year.

Avery Dennison also reported its fourth-quarter results on Wednesday. The Pasadena, Calif., company's net income more than doubled to $49 million, or 48 cents per share, compared with $22.2 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago. Stripping out restructuring costs and other items, earnings from continuing operations were 54 cents per share.

Revenue increased 5 percent to $1.53 billion from $1.45 billion.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 48 cents per share on revenue of $1.47 billion, according to data provider FactSet.

For the full year, Avery Dennison reported net income of $215.4 million, or $2.08 per share, up 13 percent from $190.1 million, or $1.78 per share, for all of 2011. Revenue edged up to $6.04 billion, from $6.03 billion.

Avery Dennison anticipates its fiscal 2013 adjusted earnings from continuing operations will be in a range of $2.40 to $2.80 per share.

Wall Street predicts earnings of $2.39 per share.

Shares of Avery Dennison rose $2.96, or 8.2 percent, to $39.10 in premarket trading. The stock closed at $36.14 on Tuesday, up about 3.5 percent since the start of the year.