Amcor plc's purchase of Berry Global Group Inc. — a deal involving two of the largest plastic packaging companies in the world — has received shareholder approval in separate votes.
At Amcor, voters holding 71 percent of the company's shares decided to participate in a Feb. 25 vote on the $8.4 billion all-stock deal, and more than 99 percent of those voters backed the transaction.
On the Berry side, voters holding 83 percent of the company's shares took part with 98 percent of supporting the transaction.
"The resounding support from both companies' shareholders marks another important milestone in bringing Amcor and Berry together," Amcor CEO Peter Konieczny said in a statement. "Our combined company will be positioned to serve customers better, grow faster and operate globally in a way neither company could accomplish alone."
The two companies are "targeting" completion of the deal "in the middle of calendar year 2025," according to information in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. They will continue to operate separately until then.
"Our combined company will service customers in more than 140 countries through [about] 400 production facilities, bringing global capabilities to local customers and providing local access to global brands," the filing states.
The companies also indicated they came together for a recent "integration summit" in Atlanta to help plan the combination of the two sides.
"Many new faces joined as part of our regional or global workstreams and it was a great opportunity for key leaders from both organizations to meet and get to know each other," an SEC filing states. "Key areas addressed at the summit included interdependencies, integration of the regional workstreams, value capture ideation surrounding key synergies, and a collaboration road map for a successful integration."