BROOMFIELD, Colo. (AP) — Ball Corp. on Tuesday said it has agreed to pay Miller Brewing Co. about $70 million as part of a contract dispute settlement between its aluminum can manufacturing division and the nation's No. 2 brewer.
The one-time payment will happen in January as part of a resolution of various business issues between Ball Corp.'s Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp. and Miller, the company said in a statement.
As part of the agreement, Ball Metal will remain Miller's beverage can supplier through 2015. Overall, the settlement will mean a third quarter charge of about $86 million.
''We are pleased to have this dispute behind us and that the good faith mediation process resulted in this settlement,'' said R. David Hoover — Ball Corp. chairman, president and CEO — said in a statement.
The settlement was announced the same day Miller and Coors announced they planned to blend their U.S. operations to help them compete in a struggling U.S. industry against its leader, Anheuser-Busch.
