ball corporation and rexam have announced the terms of a recommended offer by ball to acquire rexam in a cash and stock transaction.if accepted by shareholders, the deal will create a new global force in the production of drinks cans, which some analysts have suggested will be the most significant in recent packaging history.both companies&rsquo boards of directors unanimously support the transaction.in addition, the us drinks can maker will provide a mix and match facility, which will allow rexam shareholders to elect, subject to offsetting elections, to vary the proportions in which they receive new ball shares and cash.following closing of the transaction, ball will remain a new york stock exchange listed company domiciled in the us.ball and uk firm rexam represent two companies with complementary metal beverage packaging product offerings and strong cultural compatibility.the combined company will have pro forma 2014 revenue of approximately 15bn and approximately 22,500 employees across five continents.&ldquothe combination of ball and rexam creates a global metal beverage packaging supplier capable of leveraging its geographic presence, innovative products and talented employees to better serve customers of all sizes across the globe while at the same time generating significant shareholder value,&rdquo said john a. hayes, chairman, president and chief executive.&ldquotoday&rsquos announcement aligns with our &lsquodrive for 10&prime strategic vision of maximising value in our existing businesses, expanding into new products and capabilities, aligning ourselves with the right customers and markets, broadening our geographic reach and leveraging our knowhow and technology. once successfully closed, we expect the combination will provide 300m of annual runrate, value creating synergies in the areas of general and administrative, sourcing, freight and logistics and process and efficiency savings which are additive to our longstanding financial strategy of growing diluted earnings per share 10 to 15 percent over time, generating significant free cash flow and growing eva dollars.&rdquostuart chambers, chairman, rexam, said, &ldquothe rexam board believes that the proposed combination with ball is a compelling opportunity for our stakeholders. by combining the two companies, we will create a truly global platform to deliver bestinclass service to customers based on a shared culture of manufacturing excellence and continued innovation. the proposed transaction offers our shareholders an attractive premium and an opportunity to participate in the value creation of the combined group through ownership of ball shares.&rdquoscott c. morrison, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said ball&rsquos existing strong free cash flow coupled with the free cash flow of rexam will allow the new firm to aggressively pay down debt postclosing as we have done following past highly accretive acquisitions such as reynolds metals in 1998, schmalbachlubeca in 2002, us can in 2006 and the ab inbev plants acquisition in 2009.&ldquogiven the cash generative capabilities and the 300 million of annual runrate synergies of today&rsquos proposed transaction, we expect to maintain a solid credit profile after this transaction is complete. our pro forma leverage will be approximately 4.5 times net debt to ebitda following this transaction, a level similar to our leverage following the reynolds metals transaction, when we were a much smaller company. once we have reduced the leverage to levels in the range of 3.0 times net debt to ebitda, the company will reinitiate its share repurchase program, and we are targeting 2018 for that,&rdquo said morrison. 
