One Equity Partners, a division of JPMorgan & Chase Co. (JPM) said on Monday that it has purchased 66% of Austria’s Constantia Packaging AG.
 
Dutch holding company Constantia B.V. would retain a stake of up to 25% of Constantia Packaging. One Equity plans to offer €38.67 per share for the remaining stake in the firm, which closed at a slight premium to Monday’s closing price of €37.79.
 
To settle a financial claim that Austrian real estate group Immoeast has on Constantia B.V., the company will probably use its stake in Constantia Packaging, worth €420 million ($618 million) at Monday’s closing price.
 
Earlier this month, Constantia BV had offered Immoeast to pay €164 million in cash and hand over assets of more than €200 million to settle the claim.
 
JPMorgan is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.0 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. The company is poised to benefit from its leading businesses and large scale acquisitions. Each of the company’s businesses ranks among the top three players in its respective industry. The company is also pursuing acquisitions to build scale and volumes.
 
In May 2008, JPMorgan acquired Bear Stearns Companies and in September 2008, it acquired the banking operations of Washington Mutual Bank. There are likely to be meaningful revenue opportunities over time driven by production of credit cards and investment products for expanding the business. Also, management expects acquisitions to produce significant cost synergies in the years ahead.
 
Though results for the last few quarters benefited from a strong performance by the investment bank, Consumer Lending and Card Services deteriorated due to continued high levels of credit costs. We anticipate continued synergies from the company’s diversification and strong capital position, but higher provisions and worsening credit quality will be a drag on upcoming results.
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