Ball Corporation
Current Report on Form 8-K
Dated February 12, 1998
Exhibit EX-99
Following is the text of a press release disseminated by the registrant on
February 4, 1998:
BALL TO RELOCATE CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS FROM INDIANA TO COLORADO
MUNCIE, Ind., February 4, 1998--Ball Corporation [NYSE: BLL] will
relocate its corporate headquarters from Muncie to the Denver/Boulder area in
Colorado, the company announced today. Preparations for the move will begin
immediately, and it is anticipated the relocation will be in stages and will
be complete near the end of 1998. Ball has approximately 180 employees at its
corporate offices in Muncie.
The new home for the corporate offices will be in the company's
Colorado Engineering Center building in Broomfield, Colo. Ball employs more
than 3,000 people in Colorado, owns or leases more than one million square
feet of building space and has approximately 200 acres of developable land
between Denver and Boulder. The Colorado Engineering Center, originally
designed as a headquarters facility, was purchased by Ball in 1987.
George A. Sissel, chairman and chief executive officer, said the
decision to relocate the corporate headquarters came after significant changes
in Ball's businesses and strategic direction in recent years.
"Today our operating management is highly concentrated in Colorado. We
have excellent facilities and a strong employment base there," Sissel said.
"Relocating will enable us to take better advantage of those resources,
improve communication within the company, curtail much travel and further
reduce general and administrative costs. We anticipate that relocation and
other costs should be approximately $20 million, pre-tax. Upon completion of
the move and coordination of corporate and some staff functions, we expect to
realize annual savings in excess of $4 million, pre-tax."
Ball has had operations in Colorado since 1956. Its packaging
operations, which generate 85 percent of the company's sales, are
headquartered in Colorado, as is the company's aerospace and technologies
subsidiary, which accounts for the other 15 percent of company revenues.
Ball produces rigid metal and plastic packaging products,
primarily for beverages and foods, and provides aerospace and other high
technology products and services to governmental and commercial customers. The
company reported 1997 sales of $2.4 billion.
* * *
Note: This news release may contain forward-looking statements as encouraged
by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are necessarily projections which are subject to change upon the
occurrence of certain events which may affect the business, many of which are
set forth in the company's latest Form 10-Q report filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on Nov. 10, 1997.
5a/98
Ball Media Contact: Scott McCarty 765/747-6175, smccarty@ball.com
Ball Investor Contact: Doug Poling 765/747-6165, dpoling@ball.com
http://www.ball.com
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Management Information Bulletin
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 28, 1998
Today our Board of Directors elected R. DAVID HOOVER as vice chairman and GEORGE
A. MATSIK as president of Ball Corporation. These promotions recognize the
important roles Dave and George play in the current management and direction of
Ball Corporation, but, perhaps more importantly, the elections establish for us
a leadership plan which can take our company well into the next century.
Dave Hoover, reporting to me, now will be vice chairman and will continue as
chief financial officer, with his deep involvement in our packaging initiatives.
In addition, he now will have oversight and strategic responsibility for all of
our aerospace and technology businesses. This, of course, includes primarily
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., our wholly owned subsidiary, which will
still be under the able direction of Donald W. Vanlandingham, its president and
CEO. Don will work directly with Dave on matters regarding BATC. Dave also will
be vice chairman of BATC and will be involved with other investments or
strategic initiatives we choose to make in the aerospace and technology arena. I
will remain chairman of the BATC board.
Dave has a clear vision of what Ball Corporation needs to be, and he knows what
it will take for us to achieve that vision. He has a keen mind for business and
finance; experience working in an operating unit; strong communication skills;
an unassuming personality; and a demonstrated ability to direct, motivate and
lead others.
Since he joined us in 1970, Dave has held numerous positions within Ball. He is
well known, liked and respected throughout the company. His new position will
present him additional challenges and should help prepare him for even greater
responsibilities with the company in the future.
George Matsik, reporting to me, is now president and will continue as chief
operating officer, packaging. George has been tireless in recent years in
directing Ball's commitment to operating excellence in our existing packaging
businesses and in building it in our new packaging initiatives. In his new
position, George will remain focused on our packaging operations. As that
constitutes approximately 85 percent of our revenues, the board and I felt it
only appropriate that he be president of Ball Corporation.
George is committed to making Ball a better operating company today than it was
yesterday and better tomorrow than it is today. He is relentless in this
pursuit, and that is exactly what we must be in order to succeed in businesses
which demand we be a low-cost but visionary supplier. He has spent a quarter of
a century with Ball, all of it involved in our packaging operations. Wherever he
has gone and whatever he has done in the company, he has demonstrated his
ability to lead, get the job done and make us a winner.
I will remain as chairman and chief executive officer of Ball, with the other
corporate functions continuing to report directly to me. My current intention is
to work as CEO until my normal retirement in about three years.
Please join me in congratulating Dave and George on their elections to these
important new positions. Our present and our future clearly are in their and my
hands, but we are the first to say that, without the rest of you, we can achieve
little. Together, we can achieve much.
George A. Sissel
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer