Info

In 1971, Kerr Group, Inc., produced the first child-resistant plastic closure for the pharmaceutical industry, marking its successful evolution from a respected manufacture of home canning jars to a leading innovator in the specialty plastics closures business. Kerr has built in this foundation to earn premier status in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Today with many new products and an expanded market focus, Kerr maintains strong relations with such respected companies as Abbott, American Home Products, Bayer, CVS, Hunt-Wesson, Merck, Pfizer, RJR Nabisco, Seagram, and Warner Lambert. Working with customers who demand sophisticated design and tight manufacturing tolerances, Kerr has engineered several subsequent generations of child-resistant closures and introduced tamper-evident closures and complementary plastic vials and bottles as well. Kerr led the closure industry in the replacement of metal with plastic closures and, in the process, established strong market positions in the pharmaceutical, prescription drug and distilled spirits industries. In March 1998, as a first step in an aggressive growth strategy, Kerr formed a new food and beverage division for its acquisition of Sun Coast Industries, a niche leader in the plastic cap manufacturing for the food and beverage industries. Kerr expects continued high growth as it takes advantage of new package conversion opportunities in the food and beverage industry, and capitalizes on several favorable trends in the pharmaceutical industry. These include an aging population, new product introductions and increasing generic drug activity as $ 30 billion worth of drugs come off patent by the year 2005. In August 1997, Fremont Partners joined with former Continental Can executives Dick Hofmann, Larry Caldwell, and Dan Gresham to acquire all outstanding shares of NYSE-listed Kerr through a public tender offer. The new management team, headed by Dick Hofmann as chief executive officer and Larry Caldwell as chief financial officer, led a significant restructuring in the company, including numerous cost-saving initiatives and a substantial reinvestment in plant and equipment. Kerr has a 95-year history of developing & commercializing packaging solutions. From our beginning in 1903 to now , we have continued to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers and the markets we serve. Our business strategy is to be our customers' best supplier. This continues the Kerr legacy and reputation as an innovative developer and commercializer of package solutions that offer unparalleled safety, convenience and reliability for our customers' products. The Food and Beverage Division of Kerr Group produces packaging for the food and beverage industry markets in both cold and hot fill closures.