Anheuser-Busch Packaging Group sold its Precision Printing and Packaging (PPPI) unit to Spear, a leading global supplier of beverage labels, the two companies announced. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

PPPI prints 28 billion labels each year for Anheuser-Busch and other beverage, food and consumer products companies. In 2007, the Clarksville, TN, USA-based company had annual sales of US$70 million. Spear, which supplies labels to the beverage industry, has operations around the world with headquarters in Mason, OH, USA.

“Anheuser-Busch and Spear have had an excellent working relationship for many years, and we believe this is the right choice for PPPI,” said Mike Harding, chief executive officer and president of the Anheuser-Busch Packaging Group. “We’re pleased to continue our relationship as a customer of Spear.”  

“All of us at Spear welcome PPPI employees to our family,” said Randy Spear, president. “We’ve admired this team for many years, and believe they will be an excellent addition to our business. This sale will strengthen Spear and PPPI, and we look forward to continuing our long-term majority supply relationship with Anheuser-Busch.”

Spear has been a leading innovator and supplier of pressure-sensitive labeling for the beverage industry since 1982. The company currently operates three facilities across North America – Milford, NH, Fulton, NY, and Mason, OH – as well as operations in the United Kingdom and South Africa. In addition to Anheuser-Busch key customers include Bacardi, Coke, Diageo, Grupo Modelo, Heineken, L’Oreal, Neutrogena, Pepsi, Proctor & Gamble and SABMiller.

Based in St. Louis, MO, USA, Anheuser‑Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.5 percent share of US beer sales.  The company brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser‑Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer, and a 27 percent share in Chinese brewer Tsingtao, whose namesake beer brand is China’s best-selling premium beer. Anheuser-Busch ranked No. 1 among beverage companies in Fortune Magazine’s Most Admired U.S. and Global Companies lists in 2008.