For further details on the exceptional items for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, see Note 4 and Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements of Ardagh included elsewhere in this annual report.

Adjusted EBITDA consists of profit/(loss) for the year before income tax expense/(credit), net finance expense, depreciation and amortization, exceptional operating items and share of profit or loss in equity accounted joint venture. Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are presented because we believe that they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in evaluating companies in the packaging industry. However, other companies may calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin in a manner different from ours. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are not measurements of financial performance under IFRS and should not be considered an alternative to profit/(loss) as indicators of operating performance or any other measures of performance derived in accordance with IFRS.

The reconciliation of profit/(loss) for the year to Adjusted EBITDA is as follows:

Adjusted profit consists of profit/(loss) for the year before total exceptional items (net of tax impact), (gain)/loss on derivatives, intangible amortization and associated tax credits. Adjusted profit is presented because we believe that it accurately reflects the ongoing cost structure of the company. It excludes total exceptional items and (gain)/loss on derivatives which we consider not representative of ongoing operations because such items are not reflective of the normal earnings potential of the business. We have also adjusted for the amortization of intangible assets and associated tax credits, as this is driven by our acquisition activity which can vary in size, nature and timing compared to other companies within our industry and from period to period. Accordingly, due to the incomparability of acquisition activity among companies and from period to period, we believe exclusion of the amortization associated with intangible assets acquired through our acquisitions and total exceptional items allows investors to better compare and understand our results.

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be materially adversely affected by one or more of the risks and uncertainties described below:

Risks Relating to Our Business

Our customers principally sell to consumers of beverages & food products. If economic conditions affect consumer demand, our customers may be affected and so reduce the demand for our products.

Demand for our packaging depends on demand for the products which use our packaging, which is primarily consumer driven. General economic conditions may adversely impact consumer confidence resulting in reduced spending on our customers’ products and, thereby, reduced or postponed demand for our products.

Adverse economic conditions may also lead to more limited availability of credit, which may have a negative impact on the financial condition, particularly on the purchasing ability, of some of our customers and distributors and may also result in requests for extended payment terms, and result in credit losses, insolvencies and diminished sales channels available to us. Our suppliers may have difficulties obtaining necessary credit, which could jeopardize their ability to provide timely deliveries of raw materials and other essentials to us. Adverse economic conditions may also lead to suppliers requesting credit support or otherwise reducing credit, which may have a negative effect on our cash flows and working capital.

Volatility in exchange rates may also increase the costs of our products that we may not be able to pass on to our customers; impair the purchasing power of our customers in different markets; result in significant competitive benefit to certain of our competitors who incur a material part of their costs in other currencies than we do; hamper our pricing; and increase our hedging costs and limit our ability to hedge our exchange rate exposure.

Changes in global economic conditions may reduce our ability to forecast developments in our industry and plan our operations and costs, resulting in operational inefficiencies. Negative developments in our business, results of operations and financial condition due to changes in global economic conditions or other factors could cause ratings agencies to lower the credit ratings, or ratings outlook, of our short‑ and long‑term debt and, consequently, impair our

ability to raise new financing or refinance our current borrowings and increase our costs of issuing any new debt instruments.

Furthermore, the economic outlook could be adversely affected by the risk that one or more eurozone countries could leave the European Monetary Union, or the euro as the single currency of the eurozone could cease to exist. Any of these developments, or the perception that any of these developments are likely to occur, could have a material adverse effect on the economic development of the affected countries and could lead to severe economic recession or depression, and a general anticipation that such risks will materialize in the future could jeopardize the stability of financial markets or the overall financial and monetary system. This, in turn, would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, liquidity and results of operations. See below “The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union may have a negative effect on our financial condition and results of operations.”

We face intense competition from other metal and glass packaging producers, as well as from manufacturers of alternative forms of packaging.

Metal Beverage Packaging

The sectors in which Metal Beverage Packaging operates are relatively mature and competitive. Prices for the products manufactured by our Metal Beverage Packaging business are primarily driven by raw material costs. Competition in the market is based on price and, increasingly, on innovation, design, quality and service. Our principal competitors include Ball Corporation, Crown Holdings and Can Pack. To the extent that any one or more of our competitors become more successful with respect to any key competitive factor, our ability to attract and retain customers could be materially and adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Metal Beverage Packaging is subject to substantial competition from producers of packaging made from plastic, carton and composites, particularly from producers of plastic packaging. Changes in consumer preferences in terms of packaging materials, style and product presentation can significantly influence sales. An increase in Metal Beverage Packaging’s costs of production or a decrease in the costs of, or an increase in consumer demand for alternative packaging could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Glass Packaging

Glass Packaging is subject to intense competition from other glass packaging producers, as well as from producers of other forms of rigid and non‑rigid packaging, against whom we compete on the basis of price, product characteristics, quality, customer service, reliability of delivery and the overall attractiveness of our offering. Advantages or disadvantages in any of these competitive factors may be sufficient to cause customers to consider changing suppliers or to use an alternative form of packaging. In some instances, we also face the threat of vertical integration by our customers into the manufacture of their own packaging materials.

Our principal competitors in glass packaging include Anchor Glass and Owens‑Illinois in North America and Owens‑Illinois, Verallia and Vidrala in Europe. Additionally, we face competition from firms that carry out specific export operations at low prices when their domestic markets are at overcapacity or when foreign exchange rates or economic conditions (particularly transport costs) allow this, such as has been seen with the importing of glass containers into the United States from lower cost countries. Despite the generally regional nature of the glass packaging markets, these export operations could have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition to competing with other large, well‑established manufacturers in the glass packaging industry, we also compete with manufacturers of other forms of rigid packaging, principally plastic packaging and aluminum cans, on the basis of quality, price, service and consumer preference. We also compete with manufacturers of non‑rigid packaging alternatives, including flexible pouches and aseptic cartons, particularly in serving the packaging needs of non‑alcoholic beverage customers, including juice customers and food customers. We believe that the use of glass packaging for alcoholic and non‑alcoholic beverages is subject to consumer taste. In addition, the association of glass packaging with

premium items in certain product categories exposes glass packaging to economic variations. Therefore, if economic conditions are poor, we believe that consumers may be less likely to prefer glass packaging over other forms of packaging. We cannot ensure that our products will continue to be preferred by end consumers and that consumer preference will not shift from glass packaging to alternative packaging. A material shift in consumer preference away from glass packaging, or competitive pressures from our various competitors, could result in a decline in sales volume, or pricing pressure, that would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, new threats from container and production innovations in all forms of packaging could disadvantage our existing business. If we are unable to respond to competitive technological advances, our future performance could be materially adversely affected.

Some customers meet some of their metal beverage and glass packaging requirements through self-manufacturing, reducing their external purchases of packaging. For example, AB InBev manufactures metal beverage packaging through its Metal Container Corporation subsidiary in the United States. In glass packaging, companies which satisfy some of their requirements through self-manufacture include AB InBev and Gallo, which manufacture glass packaging in the United States, and AB InBev and Constellation Brands, which produce glass packaging in Mexico. The potential vertical integration of our customers could introduce new production capacity in the market, which may create an imbalance between metal beverage and glass packaging supply and demand. The growth of vertically integrated operations could have a material negative impact on our future performance.

An increase in metal beverage can or glass container manufacturing capacity without a corresponding increase in demand for metal beverage cans or glass packaging could cause prices to decline, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The profitability of metal beverage or glass packaging companies is heavily influenced by the supply of, and demand for, metal or glass packaging.

We cannot assure you that metal beverage can or glass container manufacturing capacity in any of our markets will not increase further in the future, nor can we assure you that demand for metal beverage or glass packaging will meet or exceed supply. If metal beverage can or glass container manufacturing capacity increases and there is no corresponding increase in demand, the prices we receive for our products could materially decline, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As our customers are concentrated, our business could be adversely affected if we were unable to maintain relationships with our largest customers.

Metal Beverage Packaging’s ten largest customers accounted for approximately 65% of its 2019 consolidated revenues. Glass Packaging’s ten largest customers accounted for approximately 41% of its 2019 revenues. Our ten largest customers accounted for approximately 47% of our 2019 continuing operations revenues.

We believe our relationships with these customers are good, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain these relationships.  For the Group, approximately three quarters of our sales agreements, for the year ended December 31, 2019, were under multi-year supply agreements of varying terms of generally one to five years. Although these arrangements have provided, and we expect they will continue to provide, the basis for long‑term partnerships with our customers, there can be no assurance that our customers will not cease purchasing our products. If our customers unexpectedly reduce the amount of glass packaging and/or metal cans they purchase from us, or cease purchasing our glass packaging and/or metal cans altogether, our revenues could decrease and our inventory levels could increase, both of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, while we believe that the arrangements that we have with our customers will be renewed, there can be no assurance that such arrangements will be renewed upon their expiration or that the terms of any renewal will be as favorable to us as the terms of the current arrangements. There is also the risk that our customers may shift their filling operations to locations in which we do not operate. The loss of one or more of these customers, a significant reduction in sales to these customers or a significant change in the commercial terms of our relationship with these customers could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Further consolidation of our customer base may intensify pricing pressures or result in the loss of customers, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Some of our largest customers have previously acquired companies with similar or complementary product lines. For example, in 2016 AB InBev acquired SABMiller and in 2015 Kraft Foods Group merged with H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation. Such consolidation has increased the concentration of our net sales with our largest customers and may continue in the future. In many cases, such consolidation may be accompanied by pressure from customers for lower prices. Increased pricing pressures from our customers may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, this consolidation may lead manufacturers to rely on a reduced number of suppliers. If, following the combination of one of our customers with another company, a competitor was to be the main supplier to the consolidated companies, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

A significant write down of goodwill would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Goodwill at December 31, 2019 totaled $1.6 billion. The Company evaluates goodwill annually (or more frequently if impairment indicators arise) for impairment. The valuation methods used include those requiring the use of a weighted average cost of capital to calculate the present value of the expected future cash flows of the Company’s groups of cash generating units. Future changes in the cost of capital, expected cash flows, or other factors may cause the Company’s goodwill to be impaired, resulting in a non‑cash charge against results of operations to write down goodwill for the amount of the impairment. If a significant write down is required, the charge would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

Our profitability could be affected by varied seasonal demands.

Demand for Metal Beverage Packaging’s and Glass Packaging’s products is seasonal. Metal Beverage Packaging’s sales are typically greater in the second and third quarters of the year, with generally lower sales in the first and fourth quarters. Unseasonably cool weather during the summer months can reduce demand for certain beverages packaged in metal beverage cans.

Demand for our Glass Packaging products is typically strongest during the summer months and in the period prior to the holidays in December because of the seasonal nature of the consumption of beer and other beverages. Unseasonably cool weather during the summer months can reduce demand for certain beverages packaged in our glass packaging. Similarly, weather conditions can reduce crop yields and adversely affect customer demand for glass packaging for fruit and vegetable end-use categories which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We generally schedule shutdowns of our furnaces for rebuilding and repairs of machinery in the first quarter in Europe and around year‑end and the first quarter in North America. If demand for glass packaging should unexpectedly rise during such a shutdown, we would not have the ability to fulfill such demand and may lose potential revenues. These shutdowns and seasonal sales patterns could have a material adverse effect on profitability during the first quarter.

Our profitability could be affected by the availability and cost of raw materials including as a result of changes in tariffs and duties.

The raw materials that we use have historically been available in adequate supply from multiple sources. For certain raw materials, however, there may be temporary shortages due to weather, transportation, production delays or other factors. In such an event, no assurance can be given that we would be able to secure our raw materials from sources other than our current suppliers on terms as favorable as our current terms, or at all. Any such shortages, as well as material increases in the cost of any of the principal raw materials that we use, including the introduction of tariffs, such as the introduction of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum in the United States in 2018, which remain in effect. Further tariffs,

duties or other increases in the cost to transport materials to our production facilities, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, the relative price of oil and its by-products may impact our business, by affecting transport, lacquer and ink costs.

The primary raw materials that we use for Metal Beverage Packaging are aluminum ingot and steel. Aluminum ingot is traded daily as a commodity on the London Metal Exchange, which has historically been subject to significant price volatility. Because aluminum is priced in U.S. dollar, fluctuations in the U.S. dollar/euro rate also affect the euro cost of aluminum ingot. Our business is exposed to both the availability of aluminum and the volatility of aluminum prices, including associated premia. While raw materials are generally available from independent suppliers, raw materials are subject to fluctuations in price and availability attributable to a number of factors, including general economic conditions, commodity price fluctuations (with respect to aluminum on the London Metal Exchange), the demand by other industries for the same raw materials and the availability of complementary and substitute materials. Adverse economic or financial changes could impact our suppliers, thereby causing supply shortages or increasing costs for our business.

We may not be able to pass on all or substantially all raw material price increases, now or in the future. In addition, we may not be able to hedge successfully against raw material cost increases. Furthermore, aluminum and steel prices are subject to considerable volatility in price and demand. While in the past sufficient quantities of aluminum and steel have been generally available for purchase, these quantities may not be available in the future, and, even if available, we may not be able to continue to purchase them at current prices. Further increases in the cost of these raw materials could adversely affect our operating margins and cash flows.

The supplier industries from which Metal Beverage Packaging receives its raw materials are relatively concentrated, and this concentration can impact raw material costs. Over the last ten years, the number of major aluminum and steel suppliers has decreased and there remains the possibility of further consolidation. Further consolidation could hinder our ability to obtain adequate supplies of these raw materials and could lead to higher prices for aluminum and steel.

Glass Packaging also consumes significant amounts of raw materials in the manufacturing process, in particular, glass sand, limestone and soda ash (natural or synthetic). Crushed recycled glass (“cullet”) is also a key raw material that is used in varying percentages, depending on the type of glass manufactured and the availability of cullet in a particular market. The combination of higher energy prices and a tight supply market has resulted in a historic increase in price for soda ash. Further increases in demand without corresponding increase in supply may put pressure not only on soda ash, but also on some other raw materials. The price, quality and availability of cullet varies widely from one region to another and is dependent on a number of factors, including glass collection and its effectiveness and the distance of our production sites to population centers where the waste glass is generated. Changes in regulations related to glass collection and recycling, including, for example, the introduction of deposit recycling schemes (“DRS”) such as proposed in Scotland, could have a significant impact on the availability of cullet and on its price. Any significant increase in the price of the raw materials we use to manufacture glass could have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The failure to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials or future price increases could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Currency, interest rate fluctuations and commodity prices may have a material impact on our business.

The Company’s functional currency is the euro and we present our financial information in U.S. dollar. Insofar as possible, we actively manage currency exposures through the deployment of assets and liabilities throughout the Group and, when necessary and economically justified, enter into currency hedging arrangements to manage our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations by hedging against rate changes with respect to our functional currency, the euro. However, we may not be successful in limiting such exposure, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our presented results may be impacted as a result of fluctuations in the U.S. dollar exchange rate versus the euro.

Metal Beverage Packaging has production facilities in 9 different countries worldwide. It also sells products to, and obtains raw materials from, companies located in these and different regions and countries globally. As a consequence, a significant portion of consolidated revenue, costs, assets and liabilities of Metal Beverage Packaging are denominated in currencies other than the euro, particularly the U.S. dollar, the British pound and Brazilian real. The exchange rates between the currencies which we are exposed to, such as the euro, the U.S. dollar, the British pound and the Brazilian real, have fluctuated significantly in the past and may continue to do so in the future.

Metal Beverage Packaging incurs currency transaction risks primarily on metal purchases (or the hedging of those purchases), as metal prices are denominated in U.S. dollars, and on revenue denominated in currencies other than the euro fulfilled from euro‑participant territories (or the hedging of those sales).

A substantial portion of the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of Glass Packaging is denominated in U.S. dollars, British pounds, Swedish krona, Danish krone and Polish zloty. Fluctuations in the value of these currencies with respect to the euro have had, and may continue to have, a significant impact on our financial condition and results of operations. For the year ended December 31, 2019, 72% of our continuing operations revenues were from countries with currencies other than the euro.

In addition to currency translation risk, we are subject to currency transaction risk. Our policy is, where practical, to match net investments in foreign currencies with borrowings in the same currency. The debt and interest payments relating to our Swedish, Danish and Polish operations are all denominated in euro. Fluctuations in the value of these currencies with respect to the euro may have a significant impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in exchange rates can affect our ability to purchase raw materials and sell products at profitable prices, reduce the value of our assets and revenues, and increase liabilities and costs.

We are also exposed to interest rate risk. Fluctuations in interest rates may affect our interest expense on existing debt and the cost of new financing. We occasionally use CCIRS to manage this risk, but sustained increases in interest rates could nevertheless materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we are exposed to movements in the price of natural gas. We try to ensure that natural gas prices are fixed for future periods but do not always do so because the future prices can be far in excess of the spot price. We do not use commodity futures contracts to limit the fluctuations in prices paid and the potential volatility in earnings and cash flows from future market price movements.

For a further discussion of these matters and the measures we have taken to seek to protect our business against these risks, see “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and “Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk”.

It is difficult to compare our results of operations from period to period.

It is difficult to make period‑to‑period comparisons of our results of operations. Our business has been created as a result of a series of acquisitions and other corporate transactions over many years. These acquisitions have had a positive effect on our results of operations in periods following their completion and integration. Furthermore, our sales and, therefore, our net operating income are variable within the fiscal year due to the seasonality described above. Thus, a period‑to‑period comparison of our results of operations may not be meaningful.

Interrupted energy supplies and higher energy costs may have a material adverse effect on our business.

We use natural gas, electrical power, oil, oxygen and, in limited circumstances, liquefied petroleum gas to manufacture our products. These energy sources are vital to our operations and we rely on a continuous power supply to conduct our business. Energy prices are subject to considerable volatility. We are not able to predict to what extent energy

prices will vary in the future. If energy costs increase further in the future, we could experience a significant increase in operating costs, which could, if we are not able to recover these costs increases from our customers through selling price increases, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to fully pass-through input costs may have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

A significant number of our sales contracts with customers include provisions enabling us to pass-through increases in certain input costs, which help us deliver consistent margins. However, there is no assurance that the Company will be in a position to fully recover increased input costs from all of our customers, as had been the case in recent years with respect to the elevated freight and logistics costs incurred in our Metal Beverage Packaging and Glass Packaging businesses in North America.

Our manufacturing facilities are subject to operating hazards.

Our manufacturing processes include cutting, coating and shaping metal into containers, as well as heating raw materials to extremely high temperatures to make glass, which we then form into glass containers. These processes, which are conducted at high speeds and involve operating heavy machinery and equipment, entail risks and hazards, including industrial accidents, leaks and ruptures, explosions, fires, mechanical failures and environmental hazards, such as spills, storage tank leaks, discharges or releases of hot glass or toxic or hazardous substances and gases. These hazards may cause unplanned business interruptions, unscheduled downtime, transportation interruptions, personal injury and loss of life, severe damage to or the destruction of property and equipment, environmental contamination and other environmental damage, civil, criminal and administrative sanctions and liabilities, and third‑party claims, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are involved in a continuous manufacturing process with a high degree of fixed costs. Any interruption in the operations of our manufacturing facilities may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

All of our manufacturing activities take place at facilities that we own or that are leased by the Group. We conduct regular maintenance on all of our operating equipment. However, due to the extreme operating conditions inherent in some of our manufacturing processes, we cannot assure you that we will not incur unplanned business interruptions due to furnace breakdowns or similar manufacturing problems or that such interruptions will not have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. There can be no assurance that alternative production capacity would be available in the future if a major disruption were to occur or, if it were available, that it could be obtained on favorable terms. A disruption in such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

To the extent that we experience any furnace breakdowns or similar manufacturing problems, we will be required to make capital expenditures even though we may not have available resources at such time and we may not be able to meet customer demand, which would result in a loss of revenues. As a result, our liquidity may be impaired as a result of such expenditures and loss of revenues.

A mechanical failure or disruption affecting any major operating line may result in a disruption of our ability to supply customers, and standby capacity may not be available. The potential impact of any disruption would depend on the nature and extent of the damage caused to such facility. Further, our facilities in geographically vulnerable areas, including parts of the United States and Italy, may be disrupted by the occurrence of natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires and tsunamis.

Our Glass Packaging business requires relatively high levels of capital expenditures, which we may be unable to fund.

Our Glass Packaging business requires relatively high levels of maintenance capital expenditures. We may not be able to make such capital expenditures if we do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations, have funds available for borrowing under our existing credit facilities to cover these capital expenditure requirements or if we were restricted from incurring additional debt to cover such expenditures or as a result of a combination of these factors. If we are unable to meet our capital expenditure plans, we may not be able to maintain our manufacturing capacity, which may negatively impact our competitive position and ultimately, our revenues and profitability. If we are unable to meet our maintenance capital expenditures, our manufacturing capacity may decrease, which may have a material adverse effect on our profitability.

Our expansion strategy may adversely affect our business.

We aim over the longer term to continue to expand our packaging activities. Such future expansion may require us to capitalize on strategic opportunities including the further acquisition of existing businesses. As we believe that such businesses may be acquired with modest equity and relatively high levels of financial leverage given the cash‑generating capabilities of our business streams, our leverage may increase in the future in connection with any acquisitions. This could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any future expansion is subject to various risks and uncertainties, including the inability to integrate effectively the operations, personnel or products of acquired companies and the potential disruption of existing businesses and diversion of management’s attention from our existing businesses. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that any future expansions will achieve positive results.

We may not be able to integrate any future acquisitions effectively.

Even though we have acquired businesses in the past, there is no certainty that any businesses we may acquire in the future will be effectively integrated. If we cannot successfully integrate acquired businesses within a reasonable time frame, we may not be able to realize the potential benefits anticipated from those acquisitions. Our failure to successfully integrate such businesses and the diversion of management attention and other resources from our existing operations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, even if we are able to integrate successfully the operations of acquired businesses, we may not be able to realize the cost savings, synergies and revenue enhancements that we anticipate either in the amount or within the time frame that we anticipate, and the costs of achieving these benefits may be higher than, and the timing may differ from, what we expect. Our ability to realize anticipated cost savings and synergies may be affected by a number of factors, including the following:

Our investment in Trivium is accounted as a joint venture using the equity method which may result in the Group’s accounting carrying value  of its investment reducing should Trivium incur post-tax losses.

The Group holds approximately 42% of the ordinary shares of Trivium.  As the Group jointly controls both the financial and operating policy decisions of Trivium, the investment is accounted for as a joint venture under the equity method.  The Group’s carrying amount of its interest under the equity method, which at December 31, 2019 totaled $0.4 billion, will change as a result of the requirements of the equity method. The equity method results in the Group accounting for its share of the post-tax profit or loss and share of the other comprehensive income of Trivium. As Trivium has a

substantial amount of debt and significant debt service obligations and may incur post tax and other comprehensive losses, the Group’s accounting carrying value of its interest may reduce as a result of the requirements of equity accounting.  

We have potential indemnification obligations relating to divestments.

We have previously divested a number of businesses, including, in 2019, the divestment of Food & Specialty Metal Packaging. Pursuant to these agreements, we may be required to provide indemnification to the acquirers for damages resulting from a breach of any representation, warranty or covenants contained therein. To the extent that we are required to make any significant payments under these indemnification provisions, these payments could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to various environmental and other legal requirements and may be subject to new requirements of this kind in the future that could impose substantial costs upon us.

Our operations and properties are subject to extensive laws, ordinances, regulations and other legal requirements relating to environmental protection. Such laws and regulations which may affect our operations include, among others, requirements regarding remediation of contaminated soil, groundwater and buildings, water supply and use, natural resources, water discharges, air emissions, waste management, noise pollution, asbestos and other deleterious materials, the generation, storage, handling, transportation and disposal of regulated materials, product safety, and workplace health and safety. Such laws and regulations are also subject  to constant review by lawmakers and regulators which may result in further environmental legal requirements.

We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, costs to comply with such legal requirements, and these costs may increase in the future. Demands for more stringent pollution control devices could also result in the need for further capital upgrades to our furnaces and plant operations. We require a variety of permits to conduct our operations, including operating permits such as those required under various U.S. laws, including the federal Clean Air Act, and the EU Industrial Emissions Directive water and trade effluent discharge permits, water abstraction permits and waste permits. We are in the process of applying for, or renewing, permits at a number of our sites. Failure to obtain and maintain the relevant permits, as well as noncompliance with such permits, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we were to violate or fail to comply with these laws and regulations or our permits, we could be subject to criminal, civil and administrative sanctions and liabilities, including substantial fines and orders, or a partial or total shutdown of our operations. For example, in 2017 we settled alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations governing the reuse of electrostatic precipitator dust at our Madera plant in the United States, which occurred in the period prior to the acquisition in 2014 of VNA. As part of this settlement, we paid a civil penalty of $3.5 million and expect to incur increased dust disposal costs, which we estimate to be about $500,000 annually. We cannot assure you that our reuse of electrostatic precipitator dust at our other glass manufacturing plants will not result in regulatory inquiries or enforcement relating to compliance with hazardous waste regulations.

In order to comply with air emission restrictions, significant capital investments may be necessary at some sites. For example, to comply with U.S. environmental regulations and the demands of the EPA, VNA, which we acquired in 2014, we agreed to make sizable investments to replace or install new electrostatic precipitators and other equipment in order to control the air emissions at certain sites located in the United States. In 2010, prior to the 2014 acquisition of VNA by Ardagh, VNA and the EPA signed a global consent decree pursuant to which VNA has made investments estimated at up to an aggregate of $112 million over a ten‑year period, excluding operating costs of the systems installed. In addition, we paid a penalty amounting to $2.5 million, excluding interest, pursuant to this consent decree.

We have received notices of violation from the EPA for alleged violations under the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration, New Source Performance Standards and Title V provisions stemming from past furnace‑related projects at our other glass manufacturing facilities unrelated to our acquisition of VNA, including furnace‑related projects conducted by third parties who owned the facilities before us. The EPA has sent information

requests to a number of our glass manufacturing facilities concerning furnace‑related projects, as well as our air pollutant emissions more generally, which could culminate in notices of violation or other enforcement.

In Europe, under the IED and its reference document for “Best Available Techniques” for glass manufacturing plants and metal manufacturing plants with surface treatment using solvents, permitted emissions levels from these plants including ours are reduced substantially periodically. In Germany, technical guidelines, TA Luft, set forth emission thresholds which could potentially result in stricter limits in the future. These types of changes could require additional investment in our affected operations. Our business is also affected by the EU Emission Trading Scheme, which limits emissions of greenhouse gases. See “Item 4 Information on the Company—Environmental, Health and Safety and Product Safety Regulation”. This scheme, any future changes to it and any additional measures required to control the emission of greenhouse gases that may apply to our operations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. California has implemented a similar program, which results in the need for us to incur potentially significant compliance costs, including for the purchase of offsets against our greenhouse gas emissions. There are also some municipalities exploring further regulation to reduce or in some cases eliminate natural gas usage.

Changes to the laws and regulations governing the materials that are used in our manufacturing operations may impact the price of such materials or result in such materials no longer being available, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The European Union passed regulations concerning REACH, which place onerous obligations on the manufacturers and importers of substances, preparations and articles containing substances, and which may have a material adverse effect on our business. Furthermore, substances we use may have to be removed from the market (under REACH’s authorization and restriction provisions) or need to be substituted for alternative chemicals which may also adversely impact upon our operations.

Sites at which we operate often have a long history of industrial activities and may be, or have been in the past, engaged in activities involving the use of materials and processes that could give rise to contamination and result in potential liability to investigate or remediate, as well as claims for alleged damage to persons, property or natural resources. Liability may be imposed on us as owners, occupiers or operators of contaminated facilities. These legal requirements may apply to contamination at sites that we currently or formerly owned, occupied or operated, or that were formerly, owned, occupied or operated by companies we acquired or at sites where we have sent waste offsite for treatment or disposal. Regarding assets acquired by us, including the beverage can manufacturing assets, we cannot assure you that our due diligence investigations identified or accurately quantified all material environmental matters related to the acquired facilities. Our closure of a site may accelerate the need to investigate and remediate any contamination at the site.

In addition, we may be required to remediate contaminated third‑party sites where we have sent waste for disposal. Liability for remediation of these third‑party sites may be established without regard to whether the party disposing of the waste was at fault or the disposal activity was legal at the time it was conducted. For example, “Superfund” sites in the United States are the highest priority contaminated sites designated by the federal government as requiring remediation, and costs of their remediation tend to be high. We and a number of other companies have been named as potentially responsible parties to clean up the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site in Washington, because our Seattle plant is adjacent to the waterway and is alleged to have contributed to its contamination. Whether we will have any liability for investigation and remediation costs at this or any other Superfund site or for costs relating to claims for natural resource damages, and what portion of the costs we must bear, has not been determined.

Changes in product requirements and their enforcement may have a material impact on our operations.

Changes in laws and regulations relating to deposits on, and any limits or restrictions to recycling of, glass or metal packaging could adversely affect our business if implemented on a large scale in the major markets in which we operate. Changes in laws and regulations laying down restrictions on, and conditions for use of, food contact materials or on the use of materials and agents in the production of our products could likewise adversely affect our business. Changes to health and food safety regulations could increase costs and also might have a material adverse effect on revenues if, as a result, the public attitude toward end‑products, for which we provide packaging, were substantially affected.

Additionally, the effectiveness of new standards such as the ones related to recycling or deposits on different packaging materials could result in excess costs or logistical constraints for some of our customers who could choose to reduce their consumption and terminate the use of glass or metal packaging for their products. We could thus be forced to reduce, suspend or even stop the production of certain types of products. The regulatory changes could also affect our prices, margins, investments and activities, particularly if these changes resulted in significant or structural changes in the market for food packaging that might affect the market shares for glass, the volumes produced or production costs.

Environmental concerns could lead U.S. or European Union bodies to implement other product regulations that are likely to be restrictive for us and have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, in the European Union, each bottle cannot, in principle, contain more than the applicable heavy metals limit pursuant to Directive 94/62/CE on Packaging and Packaging Waste. There is significant variation, among countries where we sell our products, in the limitation on certain constituents in packaging, which can have the effect of restricting the types of raw materials or amount of recycled glass we use. In turn, these restrictions can increase our operating costs, such as increased energy consumption, and the environmental impacts of our operations.

Similarly, in the United States, some state regulations set the concentration of certain heavy metals in packaging at 100 ppm and provide for an exception to this rule in the event of additions of recycled packaging. Because this exemption has expired in certain states, the bottles manufactured from recycled glass that have a heavy metals concentration higher than 100 ppm could be noncompliant, which could have a negative impact on our earnings, financial condition, assets or image. We have had regulatory inquiries about our compliance and may in the future have additional inquiries or enforcement.

Other changes, such as restrictions on bisphenol A in coatings for some of our products or potential legislation on the industry’s use of non-food or beverage contact perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance chemicals, have required us to develop substitute materials for our production.

We could incur significant costs in relation to claims of injury and illness resulting from materials present or used at our production sites, or from our use of these sites or other workplace injuries, or from our products.

As is the case in a number of other industrial processes that deal with high temperatures, asbestos was once present in the glass‑making industry, primarily in safety equipment, until measures were taken to substitute this material for other materials made possible through technological advances. Since the 1990s, items made of asbestos have gradually been removed at our sites in Western Europe and the United States. Because of the age of some of our sites, however, asbestos‑cement may have been used in construction and may still be present at these sites. When these buildings are modernized or repaired, the cost of upgrades is higher because of the restrictions associated with removing asbestos‑containing materials.

We are exposed to claims alleging injury or illness associated with asbestos and related compensation over and above the support that may be offered through various existing social security systems in countries where we operate.

Claims associated with our glass manufacturing operations exist and may arise for reasons associated with the work environment unrelated to the presence of asbestos. For example, claims have arisen associated with the acoustic environment generated by forming machines, the use of glass sand in making glass and products likely to contain heavy metals or solvents for decoration. We may also face the risk of work‑related health claims owing to materials present or used at our production sites such as silicosis, and, under certain conditions, Legionnaires’ disease. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has implemented a requirement that reduced by 50% the permissible exposure limit to crystalline silica and requires engineering controls or personal protective equipment to safeguard employees from such exposure. The European Union has also set stricter exposure limit values for respirable crystalline silica in work processes under the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive. This substance is a common mineral found in sand, which is a significant raw material component for glass manufacturing and is also contained in refractories, or bricks, used in glass manufacturing operations. Our costs to meet these reduced limits could be substantial, particularly if it becomes necessary for us to implement broad engineering controls across many of our glass manufacturing plants.

We are also exposed to claims alleging musculoskeletal disorders caused by performing certain repetitive operations or motions. We could also face claims alleging illness or injury from use of the products that we manufacture or sell or from workplace injuries more generally. If these claims succeed, they could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, arbitration and other proceedings that could have an adverse effect on us.

We are currently involved in various litigation matters, and we anticipate that we will be involved in litigation matters from time to time in the future. The risks inherent in our business expose us to litigation, including personal injury, environmental litigation, contractual litigation with customers and suppliers, intellectual property litigation, tax or securities litigation, and product liability lawsuits. We cannot predict with certainty the outcome or effect of any claim, regulatory investigation, or other litigation matter, or a combination of these. If we are involved in any future litigation, or if our positions concerning current disputes are found to be incorrect, this may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, because of potential negative outcomes, the costs associated with asserting our claims or defending such lawsuits, and the diversion of management’s attention to these matters. See Note 28 to the consolidated financial statements.

We could incur significant costs due to the location of some of our industrial sites in urban areas.

Obtaining, renewing or maintaining permits and authorizations issued by administrative authorities necessary to operate our production plants could be made more difficult due to the increasing urbanization of the sites where some of our manufacturing plants are located. Some of our sites are located in urban areas. Urbanization could lead to more stringent operating conditions (by imposing traffic restrictions for example), conditions for obtaining or renewing the necessary authorizations, the refusal to grant or renew these authorizations, or expropriations of these sites in order to allow urban planning projects to proceed.

The occurrence of such events could result in us incurring significant costs and there can be no assurance that the occurrence of such events would entitle us to partial or full compensation.

Changes in consumer lifestyle, nutritional preferences, health‑related concerns and consumer taxation could adversely affect our business.

Changes in consumer preferences and tastes can have an impact on demand for our customers’ products, which in turn can lead to reduced demand for our products. In the United States, for example, the growth in consumption of imported beer and in newer beverage categories such as hard seltzers, has seen reduced demand for domestically-produced mass beer brands, resulting in reduced demand for glass packaging for this end-use category.

Certain end‑products represent a significant proportion of our packaging market. Additionally, France and the United Kingdom have introduced taxes on drinks with added sugar and artificial sweeteners that companies produce or import. France has also imposed taxes on energy drinks using certain amounts of taurine and caffeine. As a result of such taxes, demand decreased temporarily, and the imposition of such taxes in the future may lower the demand for certain soft drinks and beverages that our customers produce, which may cause our customers to respond by reducing their purchases of our metal and glass packaging products. Consumer tax legislation and future attempts to tax sugar or energy drinks or to lower consumption of certain alcoholic and non-alcoholic categories by other jurisdictions could reduce the demand for our products and adversely affect our profitability.

Any decline in the popularity of these product types as a result of lifestyle, nutrition, health considerations or consumer taxation could have a significant impact on our customers and could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We face costs associated with our post‑retirement and post‑employment obligations to employees which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

As of December 31, 2019, our accumulated post‑retirement benefit obligation was approximately $716 million. The additional costs associated with these and other benefits to employees could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

We operate a number of pension and other post‑retirement benefit schemes funded by a range of assets which may include property, derivatives, equities and/or bonds. The value of these assets is heavily dependent on the performance of markets which are subject to volatility. The liability structure of the obligations to provide such benefits is also subject to market volatility in relation to its accounting valuation and management. Additional significant funding of our pension and other post‑retirement benefit obligations may be required if market underperformance is severe.

Organized strikes or work stoppages by unionized employees could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Many of our operating companies are party to collective bargaining agreements with trade unions. These agreements cover the majority of our employees. Upon the expiration of any collective bargaining agreement, our operating companies’ inability to negotiate acceptable contracts with trade unions could result in strikes by the affected workers and increased operating costs as a result of higher wages or benefits paid to union members. If the unionized workers were to engage in a strike or other work stoppage, we could experience a significant disruption of operations and/or higher ongoing labor costs, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Failure of control measures and systems resulting in faulty or contaminated product could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We have strict control measures and systems in place to ensure that the maximum safety and quality of our products is maintained. The consequences of a product not meeting these rigorous standards, due to, among other things, accidental or malicious raw materials contamination or due to supply chain contamination caused by human error or equipment fault, could be severe. Such consequences might include adverse effects on consumer health, litigation exposures, loss of market share, financial costs and loss of revenues.

In addition, if our products fail to meet rigorous standards, we may be required to incur substantial costs in taking appropriate corrective action (up to and including recalling products from consumers) and to reimburse customers and/or end‑consumers for losses that they suffer as a result of this failure. Customers and end‑consumers may seek to recover these losses through litigation and, under applicable legal rules, may succeed in any such claim, despite there being no negligence or other fault on our part. Placing an unsafe product on the market, failing to notify the regulatory authorities of a safety issue, failing to take appropriate corrective action and failing to meet other regulatory requirements relating to product safety could lead to regulatory investigation, enforcement action and/or prosecution. Any product quality or safety issue may also result in adverse publicity, which may damage our reputation. This could in turn have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although we have not had material claims for damages for defective products in the past, and have not conducted any substantial product recalls or other material corrective action, these events may occur in the future.

In certain contracts, we provide warranties in respect of the proper functioning of our products and the conformity of a product to the specific use defined by the customer.

In addition, if a product contained in packaging manufactured by us is faulty or contaminated, it is possible that the manufacturer of the product may allege that our packaging is the cause of the fault or contamination, even if the packaging complies with contractual specifications. Furthermore, in certain countries, certain participants in the distribution chain refill bottles, even though they may not be designed for this purpose.

In case of the failure of packaging produced by us to open properly or to preserve the integrity of its contents, we could face liability to our customers and to third parties for bodily injury or other tangible or intangible damages suffered as a result. Such liability, if it were to be established in relation to a sufficient volume of claims or to claims for sufficiently large amounts, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our existing insurance coverage may be insufficient and future coverage may be difficult or expensive to obtain.

Although we believe that our insurance policies provide adequate coverage for the risks inherent in our business, these insurance policies typically exclude certain risks and are subject to certain thresholds and limits. We cannot assure you that our property, plant and equipment and inventories will not suffer damages due to unforeseen events or that the proceeds available from our insurance policies will be sufficient to protect us from all possible loss or damage resulting from such events. As a result, our insurance coverage may prove to be inadequate for events that may cause significant disruption to our operations, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may suffer indirect losses, such as the disruption of our business or third‑party claims of damages, as a result of an insured risk event. While we carry business interruption insurance and general liability insurance, they are subject to certain limitations, thresholds and limits, and may not fully cover all indirect losses.

We renew our insurance policies on an annual basis. The cost of coverage may increase to an extent that we may choose to reduce our policy limits or agree to certain exclusions from our coverage. Among other factors, adverse political developments, security concerns and natural disasters in any country in which we operate may materially adversely affect available insurance coverage and result in increased premiums for available coverage and additional exclusions from coverage.

Our business may suffer if we do not retain our executive and senior management.

We depend on our executive team, who are identified under “Item 6—Directors, Senior Management and Employees” of this annual report. The loss of services of any of the members of our executive team, members of senior management or other key personnel could adversely affect our business until a suitable replacement can be found. There may be a limited number of persons with the requisite skills to serve in these positions and there is no assurance that we would be able to locate or employ such qualified personnel on terms acceptable to us or at all.

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union may have a negative effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Approximately 12% of our total 2019 continuing operations revenue has been derived from revenues generated in the United Kingdom and 7 of our 56 Metal Beverage or Glass Packaging manufacturing facilities are located in the United Kingdom.

On March 29, 2017, the United Kingdom gave notice to the European Union under Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union of its decision to withdraw from the European Union (‘‘Brexit’’). The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union occured on January 31, 2020.

Following Brexit on January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union and entered into a transition period set to expire on December 31, 2020. Following the end of the transition period, there may be changes in the legal rights and obligations among commercial parties in the United Kingdom and the European Union, including (among others) financial institutions, suppliers and service providers and their respective customers. Any changes to the trading relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union may adversely affect the cost or timing of imports, including aluminum and coatings in our Metal Beverage Packaging operations and molds and machinery in our Glass Packaging operations.

While we predominantly sell to customers in the local U.K. market, some of our customers based in the U.K. who export outside the local U.K. market, may experience reduced demand and/or delays arising from Brexit and post-Brexit arrangements. These negative impacts could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, because of the extent of our business in the United Kingdom, the precise impact of Brexit is difficult to predict and may include effects beyond those described herein, which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Brexit may also have an adverse impact on our business, employees and customers in the United Kingdom. In addition, changes in laws and regulations after the end of the transition period, including import, tax and employment laws and regulations, could adversely impact the results of operations of our U.K. business. For example, a portion of our U.K. employees are likely to be citizens of other European countries and there is a risk that Brexit will adversely affect our and our contractors’ and suppliers’ ability to retain and recruit employees from this wider European labor market, which may lead to labor shortages and higher costs.

Further, political instability as a result of Brexit may result in a material negative effect on credit markets and foreign direct investments in Europe and the United Kingdom. For example, the announcement of the Brexit vote caused significant volatility in global stock markets and currency exchange rate fluctuations that resulted in the weakening of the exchange rate of the British pound. Uncertainty concerning the terms of Brexit during and following the transition period could cause further volatility in the British pound against other currencies, and thus increase our foreign exchange risk. See also our risk factor entitled “Currency, interest rate fluctuations and commodity prices may have a material impact on our business.” This deterioration in economic conditions could result in increased unemployment rates, increased short- and long-term interest rates, consumer and commercial bankruptcy filings, a decline in the strength of national and local economies, and other results that negatively impact household incomes.

The economic outlook could be further adversely affected by the risk that one or more European Union member states could leave the European Union as well, the risk of a greater push for independence by Scotland or Northern Ireland, or the risk that the euro as the single currency of any or all of the Eurozone member states could cease to exist. These developments, or the perception that any of them could occur, may have a material adverse effect on the stability of global financial markets, and could significantly reduce global market liquidity and restrict the ability of key market participants to operate in certain financial markets. Asset valuations, currency exchange rates and credit ratings may be especially subject to increased market volatility. These negative impacts could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations 

Increasing privacy and data security obligations or a significant data breach may adversely affect the Company’s business.

The Company will continue its efforts to meet data security obligations and must manage evolving cybersecurity threats. The loss, disclosure, misappropriation of or access to employees’ or business partners’ information or the Company’s failure to meet its obligations could result in lost revenue, increased costs, legal claims or proceedings, liability or regulatory penalties. A significant data breach or the Company’s failure to meet its obligations may adversely affect the Company’s reputation and financial condition.

The Company’s heavy reliance on technology and automated systems to operate its business could mean any significant failure or disruption of the technology or these systems could materially harm its business.

The Company depends on automated systems and technology to operate its business, including accounting systems, manufacturing systems and telecommunication systems. The Company operates a cyber and information risk management program including operating a global information security function which partners with global leaders in the security industry to deliver an integrated information and cyber risk management service using state-of-the-art technologies in areas including antivirus & anti-malware, email and web security platforms, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, cyber threat intelligence services and advanced persistent threat detection. The Company also partners with global leaders to deliver high availability and resilient systems and communication platforms. However, there is the possibility that these

systems could suffer substantial or repeated disruptions due to various events, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, including natural disasters, power failures, terrorist attacks, equipment or software failures, computer viruses or cyber security attacks. Substantial or repeated systems failures or disruptions, could result in the unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information, result in increased costs, lost revenue and the loss or compromise of important data, and may adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our substantial debt could adversely affect our financial health and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under the Notes.

We have a substantial amount of debt and significant debt service obligations. As of December 31, 2019, we had total borrowings and net debt of $5.9 billion and $5.3 billion, respectively.  For more information, see the description of our debt facilities and the table outlining our principal financing arrangements in “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Liquidity and Capital Resources”.

Our substantial debt could have negative consequences for us and for our shareholders. For example, our substantial debt could:

In addition, a portion of our debt bears interest at variable rates that are linked to changing market interest rates. Although we may hedge a portion of our exposure to variable interest rates by entering into interest rate swaps, we cannot assure you that we will do so in the future. As a result, an increase in market interest rates would increase our interest expense and our debt service obligations, which would exacerbate the risks associated with our leveraged capital structure.

Negative developments in our business, results of operations and financial condition due to changes in global economic conditions or other factors could cause ratings agencies to lower the credit ratings, or ratings outlook, of our short‑ and long‑term debt and, consequently, impair our ability to raise new financing or refinance our current borrowings and increase our costs of issuing any new debt instruments.

Risks Related to Our Class A Common Shares

The dual class structure of our common shares has the effect of concentrating voting control with our Parent Company or its shareholders and limiting our other shareholders’ ability to influence corporate matters.

Our Class B common shares, with a nominal value of €0.10 each, have 10 votes per share, and our Class A common shares, with a nominal value of €0.01 each, have one vote per share. Our Parent Company owns indirectly all Class B common shares, which represent approximately 99.15% of the voting power of our issued and outstanding share capital. Our Parent Company has the ability to control the outcome of most matters requiring shareholder approval, including:

This voting control and influence may discourage transactions involving a change of control of the Company, including transactions in which holders of our Class A common shares might otherwise receive a premium for their shares.

In addition, our Parent Company may continue to be able to control the outcome of most matters submitted to our shareholders for approval even if their shareholdings represent less than 50% of all issued shares. Due to the 10‑to‑1 voting ratio between our Class B and Class A common shares, our Parent Company will continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our issued and outstanding share capital even when Class B common shares represent substantially less than 50% of all issued and outstanding common shares. This concentrated control will limit the ability of holders of our Class A common shares to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future, and, as a result, the market price of our Class A common shares could be adversely affected.

The Company has agreed with the Parent Company to take such actions as are necessary to implement a reorganization of the Parent Company so that shareholders of the Parent Company become proportionate direct holders of our common shares, provided that the aggregate number of Class B common shares received by such shareholders in such event shall be substantially the same as or fewer than (adjusting for fractional shares) the number of the Class B common shares owned by the Parent Company immediately prior to the date of such event. If such a reorganization were to occur, we anticipate that such holders who are Qualified Holders (as defined under “Item 10. Additional Information—B. Memorandum and articles of association”) will be entitled to elect to receive either Class A common shares or Class B common shares in the reorganization and that following the reorganization, holders of Class B common shares may continue to collectively have voting power that would allow them to control the outcome of most matters requiring shareholder approval. The pre‑IPO shareholders of the Parent Company are also permitted, in our Articles, to transfer Class B common shares among themselves and to certain family members and permitted entities.

Future sales of our Class A common shares in the public market could cause our share price to fall.

Future sales of our Class A common shares, or securities convertible or exchangeable into our Class A common shares, in the public market, whether by us, our existing shareholders, the shareholders of the Parent Company or pledgees of our Class B common shares, future issuances of additional Class A common shares in connection with any future acquisitions or pursuant to any employee benefit plans, future issuances of our Class A common shares upon exercise of options or warrants, or the perception that such sales, issuances and/or exercises could occur, may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common shares, which could decline significantly.

A decline in the price of our Class A common shares might impede our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional Class A common shares or other equity securities.

To the extent we issue substantial additional Class A common shares, the ownership of our existing shareholders would be diluted and our earnings per share could be reduced, which may negatively affect the market price of our Class A common shares.

In addition, the Toggle Notes issued by the Parent Company are secured by all of our outstanding Class B common shares. Enforcement of the pledges in an event of default under the Toggle Notes could impact corporate control and might trigger change of control provisions under the indentures.

In the future, we may issue options, restricted shares and other forms of share‑based compensation, which have the potential to dilute shareholder value and cause the price of our Class A common shares to decline.

We may offer share options, restricted shares and other forms of share‑based compensation to our directors, officers and employees in the future. If any options that we issue are exercised, or any restricted shares that we may issue vest, and those shares are sold into the public market, the market price of our Class A common shares may decline. In addition, the availability of Class A common shares for award under any equity incentive plan we may introduce, or the grant of share options, restricted shares or other forms of share‑based compensation, may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common shares.

Judgments obtained in U.S. courts against us may have to be enforced in Luxembourg.

We are incorporated under Luxembourg Law, a substantial portion of our assets are located outside of the United States and many of our directors and officers and certain other persons named in this annual report are, and will continue to be, non‑residents of the United States. As a result, although we have appointed an agent for service of process in the United States, it may be difficult or impossible for U.S. investors to effect service of process within the United States upon us or our directors and officers or to enforce, in a U.S. court, judgments obtained against us including for civil liabilities under the United States federal securities laws. Therefore, any judgments obtained in any U.S. federal or state court against us may have to be enforced in the courts of Luxembourg or other EU member states.

While we currently intend to pay quarterly cash dividends, we are a holding company and depend on dividends and other distributions from subsidiaries in order to do so.

As we are a holding company, our ability to pay cash dividends on our shares may be limited by restrictions on our ability to obtain sufficient funds through dividends from subsidiaries, including restrictions under the terms of the agreements governing the current indebtedness of us and our subsidiaries or future indebtedness that we or our subsidiaries may incur.

Subject to any limitations referred to above, or as prescribed by Luxembourg Law, the declaration of future dividends, if any, will depend upon our future operations and earnings, capital expenditure requirements, general financial conditions, legal and contractual restrictions and other factors. In addition, under the indenture governing the Toggle Notes, the Parent Company is required to cause us to take all actions necessary or appropriate to permit the making of the maximum amount of dividends or other distributions that would be lawfully permitted to be declared and paid in order for it to meet its cash interest payment obligations. In certain circumstances, we may be required to declare a special dividend to the Parent Company in order to comply with these obligations.

The rights and responsibilities of shareholders are governed by Luxembourg Law and will differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders under U.S. law.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our Articles and Luxembourg Law. In the performance of its duties, the board of directors is required to act as a collegiate body in the interest of the Company. It is possible that the Company may have interests that are different from interests of the shareholders. If any member of our board of directors has a direct or indirect financial interest in a matter which has to be considered by the board of directors which conflicts with the interests of the Company, Luxembourg Law provides that such director will not be entitled to participate in deliberations on and exercise his vote with respect to the approval of such transaction. If the interest of such a member of the board of directors does not conflict with the interests of the Company, then the applicable director with such interest may participate in deliberations on, and vote on the approval of, that transaction.

All of our shareholder meetings will take place in Luxembourg. Shareholders may vote by proxy or in person at any general meeting.

In addition, the rights of our shareholders are governed by Luxembourg Law and our Articles and differ from the rights of shareholders under U.S. law.

Our Articles include compulsory share transfer provisions that may not provide our minority shareholders with the same benefits as they would have in a merger of a Delaware corporation.

We have included in our Articles provisions that give the holder of 75% of the number of our outstanding common shares (which would include the Parent Company for so long as it holds the requisite number of our common shares) the right to acquire our outstanding shares held by all other holders at such time for a purchase price payable in cash that is equal to the fair market value of such shares, as determined by an independent investment banking firm of international reputation in accordance with the procedures contained in our Articles. These procedures include a dispute resolution provision permitting holders of at least 10% of the shares of the Company held by our minority shareholders at that time to dispute the purchase price proposed by the acquiring shareholder. It is uncertain whether our minority shareholders will be able to coordinate with each other in a manner that will enable them to take full advantage of these provisions. There can be no assurance that these provisions would result in a price as favorable to our minority shareholders as they would receive in a transaction subject to Delaware law and appraisal rights.

The super voting rights of our Class B common shares and other anti‑takeover provisions in our Articles might discourage or delay attempts to acquire us.

In addition to the super voting rights of our Class B common shares, our Articles contain provisions that may make the acquisition of our Company more difficult, including the following:

These anti‑takeover provisions could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our Company, even if such transaction would benefit our shareholders.

We qualify for and rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

We are exempt from certain corporate governance requirements of the NYSE by virtue of being a “foreign private issuer.” Although our foreign private issuer status exempts us from most of the NYSE’s corporate governance requirements, we intend to voluntarily comply with these requirements, except those from which we would be exempt by virtue of being a “controlled company.” Our Parent Company controls, directly or indirectly, a majority of the voting power of our issued and outstanding shares and is a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards, entitled to certain limited corporate governance exemptions. Under these NYSE standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by another person or group of persons acting together is a controlled company and may elect not to comply with certain NYSE corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:

As a controlled company, we utilize these exemptions, including the exemption from the requirement to have a board of directors composed of a majority of independent directors. In addition, although we have adopted charters for our audit, compensation and nominating and governance committees, our compensation and nominating and governance committees are not expected to be composed of independent directors.

As a result of the foregoing exemptions, we can cease voluntary compliance at any time, and our shareholders may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.

As a listed company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act and the listing standards of the NYSE. The requirements of these rules and regulations may further, increase our legal, accounting, and financial compliance costs and make some activities more difficult, time consuming and costly.

The Sarbanes‑Oxley Act requires, among other things that, as a listed company, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer certify the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal controls over financial reporting. Any failure to maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting also could adversely affect the results of management evaluations and independent registered

public accounting firm audits of our internal control over financial reporting. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures or ineffective internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information.

Holders generally will be subject to a 15% withholding tax on payment of dividends made on the Class A common shares under current Luxembourg tax law.

Under current Luxembourg tax law, payments of dividends made on the Class A common shares generally are subject to a 15% Luxembourg withholding tax. Certain exemptions or reductions in the withholding tax may apply, but it will be up to the holders to claim any available refunds from the Luxembourg tax authority. For more information on the taxation implications, see, “Item 10. Additional Information—Taxation”.

Our shareholders may have more difficulty protecting their interests than they would as shareholders of a U.S. corporation.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our Articles and Luxembourg Law, including the laws governing joint stock companies. The rights of our shareholders and the responsibilities of our directors and officers under Luxembourg Law are different from those applicable to a corporation incorporated in the United States. There may be less publicly available information about us than is regularly published by or about U.S. issuers. In addition, Luxembourg Law governing the securities of Luxembourg companies may not be as extensive as those in effect in the United States, and Luxembourg Law and regulations in respect of corporate governance matters might not be as protective of minority shareholders as state corporation laws in the United States. Therefore, our shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in connection with actions taken by our directors and officers or our principal shareholders than they would as shareholders of a corporation incorporated in the United States.

Neither our Articles nor Luxembourg Law provides for appraisal rights for dissenting shareholders in certain extraordinary corporate transactions that may otherwise be available to shareholders under certain U.S. state laws. As a result of these differences, our shareholders may have more difficulty protecting their interests than they would as shareholders of a U.S. issuer.

The SEC maintains an internet site at www.sec.gov that contains reports and information statements and other information regarding registrants like us that file electronically with the SEC.

The Company routinely posts important information on the Company website https://www.ardaghgroup.com/corporate/investors. This website and the information contained therein or connected thereto shall not be deemed to be incorporated into this annual report.

We are a leading supplier of innovative, value‑added rigid packaging solutions. Our products include metal beverage cans and glass containers primarily for beverage and food markets, which are characterized by stable, consumer‑driven demand. Our end‑use categories include beer, wine, spirits, CSD, energy drinks, juices and flavored waters. Our customers include a wide variety of leading consumer product companies which value our packaging products for their features, convenience and quality, as well as the end‑user appeal they offer through design, innovation, functionality, premium association and brand promotion. With our significant invested capital base, extensive technological capabilities and manufacturing know‑how, we believe we are well‑positioned to continue to meet the dynamic needs of our global customers. We have mainly built our Company through strategic acquisitions and other corporate transactions and have established leadership positions in large, attractive markets in beverage cans and glass containers.

We serve over 1,500 customers across more than 80 countries, comprised of multi‑national companies, large national and regional companies and numerous local businesses. In our target regions of Europe, North America and Brazil, our customers include a wide variety of CPGs, which own some of the best known brands in the world. We have a stable customer base with long-standing relationships and approximately three quarters of our sales are generated under

multi‑year contracts, with the remainder largely subject to annual arrangements. A significant portion of our sales volumes are supplied under contracts which include input cost pass‑through provisions, which help us deliver generally consistent margins.

We operate 56 production facilities in 12 countries and employ approximately 16,300 personnel. Our plant network includes 23 metal beverage can production facilities and 33 glass production facilities. Our plants are generally located to serve our customers’ filling locations. Certain facilities may also be dedicated to end‑use categories, enhancing product‑specific expertise and generating benefits of scale and production efficiency. Significant capital has been invested in our extensive network of long‑lived production facilities, which, together with our skilled workforce and related manufacturing process know‑how, supports our competitive positions.

We are committed to market‑leading innovation and product development and maintain dedicated innovation, development and engineering centers in the United States and Europe to support these efforts. These facilities focus on three main areas: (i) innovations that provide enhanced product design, differentiation and user friendliness for our customers and end‑use consumers; (ii) innovations that reduce input costs to generate cost savings for both our customers and us (downgauging and lightweighting); and (iii) developments to meet evolving product safety standards and regulations.

Our sustainability focus is centered on minimizing the impact of our operations and products on the environment, while promoting a healthy and safe workplace for our employees. 

In pursuance of this environmental objective we seek to promote recycling of our products, enhance our product design and target continuous improvement in our processes. Metal and glass are both infinitely recyclable, without any degradation in quality, differentiating them from many other packaging substrates. This is expected to continue to enhance their appeal, as consumer awareness of sustainability and the environment grows.

Recycling rates for aluminum beverage cans are relatively high in the geographies in which we operate, estimated at 55% in the United States,76% in Europe and 98% in Brazil. The use of recycled aluminum reduces energy consumption by over 90% compared with the alternative of producing aluminum cans from its virgin source. In glass packaging, we aim to maximize the use of recycled glass, or cullet, in our production process, thereby reducing energy consumption and emissions.

In Europe, the recycling rate for glass packaging is 76% with up to 90% used in some of our furnaces. Recycling rates for glass packaging in the United States are significantly lower at 34%. We are committed to working, including with industry associations, to promote recycling rates in the regions in which we operate. Feve, the European glass federation, has targeted an increase in glass recycling rates in the European Union to 90% by 2030. In addition, we have investments and partnerships in Europe to enhance our supply of cullet and are seeking to increase supply in the United States.

We continuously aim to reduce the material and resource usage in the production of our products, through downgauging (of metal beverage cans) and lightweighting (of glass containers). In addition, we have established specialist groups across our business and promote best practice sharing, to drive continuous improvement.

We have established targets for reductions in energy consumption, emissions, water usage, waste and other metrics and report in our Sustainability Report (available at www.ardaghgroup.com) on progress towards their achievement. We also submit data to CDP (formally the Carbon Disclosure Project) and have been awarded A- in respect of climate change, A in relation to supplier relations and B in the water management category. 

We seek to embed a culture of safety awareness across our business and seek to minimize accidents and injuries through continuous training and education.

We have established a Board Sustainability Committee to direct our initiatives in this area and appointed a Chief Sustainability Officer in 2019. 

Our leading global positions have been established through acquisitions, with 23 successful acquisitions completed over the past 21 years. In 2016, we completed the Beverage Can Acquisition, comprising 22 beverage can production facilities in Europe, North America and Brazil which, on a combined basis, we believe is the third largest beverage can business globally.

In addition to organic and acquisitive growth initiatives, we have also expanded our footprint through strategic investments in new capacity to support our customers’ growth, including most recently a new beverage can ends facility in Manaus, Brazil, completed in 2018. These initiatives, as well as other acquisitions and investments over many years, in existing and adjacent end‑use categories, have increased our scale and diversification and provided opportunities to grow our business with both existing and new customers.

Our loss from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $284 million. Adjusted EBITDA and net cash from operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 from continuing operations were $1,173 million and $698 million, respectively.

The following chart illustrates the breakdown of our revenue by destination for the year ended December 31, 2019:

Our Industry

The global packaging industry is a large, consumer‑driven industry with stable growth characteristics. We operate in the metal beverage can and glass container sectors and our target regions are Europe, North America and Brazil. Metal beverage cans and glass containers are attractive to brand owners, as their strength and rigidity allows them to be filled at high speeds and easily transported, while their shelf‑stable nature means that refrigeration is not required, thereby resulting in further energy savings in the supply chain. The ability to customize and differentiate products supplied in metal beverage cans and glass containers, through innovative design, shaping and printing, also appeals to our customers. Both the metal and the glass container markets have been marked by progressive downgauging (metal cans) and lightweighting (glass containers), which have generated material savings in input costs and logistics, while enhancing the consumer experience. This reduction in raw material and energy usage in the manufacturing process has also increased the appeal to end‑users, who are increasingly focused on sustainability.

Our Competitive Strengths

Our Business Strategy

Our principal objective remains to increase shareholder value by achieving growth in Adjusted EBITDA and cash generation. We aim to achieve this objective through organically growing our business, but will also continue to evaluate other acquisitions and strategic opportunities to enhance shareholder value. We pursue these objectives through the following strategies:

Our Divisions

Today, we manage our business in two divisions, Metal Beverage Packaging and Glass Packaging. The following charts illustrate the breakdown of our revenue and Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2019:

We are organized into four operating and reportable segments, Europe and Americas in Metal Beverage Packaging, and Europe and North America in Glass Packaging. The Group changed the composition of its operating and reporting segments following the disposal of its Food & Specialty Metal Packaging business which completed on October 31, 2019. Adjusted EBITDA is the performance measure used to manage and assess performance of our reportable segments.

Metal Beverage Packaging

We are one of the leading suppliers of consumer metal beverage packaging in the world. Following the Beverage Can Acquisition, we believe that we hold the #2 or #3 market positions in the beverage can industry in Europe, the United States and Brazil.

Metal Beverage Packaging sales represented approximately 51% of our total continuing operations revenues in 2019. Revenues and Adjusted EBITDA for Metal Beverage Packaging were $3,372 million and $503 million, respectively. For a discussion of the impact of seasonality on the Metal Beverage Packaging division, see “Item 5.—Operating and Financial Review and Prospects”.

The global packaging industry is a large, consumer-driven industry with stable growth characteristics. Within the $105 billion global metal packaging industry, the metal can packaging market is comprised of beverage cans (45%), food cans (30%), aerosol cans (10%) and other cans (15%), according to Smithers Pira*, a leading independent market research firm with extensive specialized experience in the packaging, paper and print industries. We compete in the beverage can sector of the consumer metal packaging industry. We estimate the beverage can sector to be approximately $25 billion with more than 300 billion beverage cans produced globally every year, of which nearly 90% were aluminum cans and the remainder of which were steel cans. Because the consumer metal beverage packaging industry primarily supplies packaging for food, drinks and other basic needs, it is considered to be a relatively stable market sector that is less sensitive to economic cycles than many other industries.

* Source: Smithers Pira—The Future of Metal Cans to 2023 (May 2018).

(1)One facility in each of Austria, France, The Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

Industry Overview

We operate in the beverage can segment of the consumer metal packaging industry.  

The beverage can sector is growing in each of Europe, North America and Brazil. Growth in unit volumes of specialty beverage cans has exceeded growth in standard beverage cans, thereby increasing specialty can penetration, a trend that is expected to continue.

We believe the purchasing decisions of retail consumers are significantly influenced by packaging. Consumer product manufacturers and marketers are increasingly using packaging to position their products in the market and differentiate them from alternative products. A growing awareness of sustainability issues among consumers, as well as potential regulatory or legislative changes in this area, are also expected to influence future packaging decisions by consumer product manufacturers. The development and production of premium, differentiated packaging products with additional value-added features require a higher level of design capabilities, manufacturing and process know-how and quality control than for more standardized products.

Customers

We operate production facilities in Europe, the United States and Brazil, and sell metal beverage cans to national and international customers in these regions. We supply leading manufacturers in each of the markets we serve, including AB InBev, Britvic, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Heineken, Monster Beverage, PepsiCo and Grupo Petrópolis, among others.

The top ten Metal Beverage Packaging customers represented approximately 65% of Metal Beverage Packaging revenues in 2019. Overall, Metal Beverage Packaging’s revenue is backed by multi-year supply agreements, typically ranging from three to five years in duration. These contracts generally provide for the pass-through of metal price fluctuations and, in most cases, most of variable cost movements, while others have tolling arrangements whereby customers arrange for the procurement of metal themselves. In addition, within multi-year relationships, both parties can work together to streamline the product, service and supply process, leading to significant cost reductions and improvements in product and service, with benefits arising to both parties. Wherever possible, we seek to enter into multi-year supply agreements with our customers. In other cases, sales are made under commercial supply agreements, typically of one-year’s duration, with prices based on expected purchase volumes.

Competitors

Our principal competitors in metal beverage packaging include Ball Corporation, Crown Holdings, and Can Pack.

Raw Materials and Suppliers

The principal raw materials used in Metal Beverage Packaging are aluminum, steel, coatings and lining compounds. Over 95% of our metal raw material spend in 2019 related to aluminum. Our major aluminum suppliers include Constellium, Hydro, Novelis and Tri-Arrows.

We continuously seek to minimize the price of raw materials and reduce exposure to price movements in a number of ways, including the following:

Aluminum is typically purchased under three-year contracts, with prices that are fixed in advance. Despite an increase in the level of aluminum production being targeted to new end-use applications, including automotive and aerospace, we believe that adequate quantities of the relevant grades of packaging aluminum will continue to be available from various producers and that we are not overly dependent upon any single supplier. Some of our aluminum requirements are subject to tolling arrangements with our customers, whereby risk and responsibility for the procurement of aluminum is managed by the customer.

Distribution

We use various freight and haulage contractors to make deliveries to customer sites or warehousing facilities. In some cases, customers make their own delivery arrangements and therefore may purchase from us on an ex‑works basis. Warehousing facilities are primarily situated at our manufacturing facilities; however, in some regions, we use networks of externally‑rented warehouses at strategic third‑party locations, close to major customers’ filling operations.

Innovation, Research and Development

The majority of Metal Beverage Packaging’s innovation, development and engineering activities are primarily concentrated at our regional technical center in Elk Grove, Illinois and at our research and development facility in Bonn, Germany. These centers focus on identifying and serving the existing and potential needs of customers, including the achievement of cost reductions, particularly metal content reduction, new product innovation and meeting new and anticipated legislative requirements, as well as providing technology, engineering and support services to our product facilities.

Metal Beverage Packaging currently holds and maintains a number of patent families, filed in several jurisdictions and covering a range of different products.

Glass Packaging

We manufacture both proprietary and non‑proprietary glass containers for a variety of end‑use categories, mainly beverage and food. Our proprietary products are customized to the exact specifications of our customers and play an important role in their branding strategies. Our non‑proprietary products deliver consistent performance and product differentiation through value‑added decoration, including embossing, coating, printing and pressure‑sensitive labeling. Our product offerings and continuing focus on operational excellence have enabled us to meet and exceed our customers’ requirements and consistently generate margins in Glass Packaging that compare well with other large competitors in the sector.

Glass Packaging revenues represented 49% of our total continuing operations revenues in 2019. For a discussion of the impact of seasonality on the Glass Packaging division, see “Item 5.—Operating and Financial Review Prospects”.

We believe we are the #1 supplier of glass packaging in Northern Europe by market share and the #3 supplier in Europe overall by market share, as well as the #2 supplier in the U.S. market by market share.

Products and Services

In addition to the manufacturing of proprietary and non-proprietary glass containers, Glass Packaging includes our glass engineering business, Heye International, which designs and supplies glass packaging machinery and spare parts for existing glass packaging machinery. We also provide technical assistance to third‑party users of our equipment and licensees of our technology. For the 2019 fiscal year, these activities represented approximately 2% of Glass Packaging’s revenues.

Manufacturing and Production

As of December 31, 2019, we operated 33 glass plants with 68 glass furnaces and had approximately 11,700 employees. We have glass manufacturing facilities in Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. We believe that our facilities are well maintained and that we generally have sufficient capacity to satisfy current and expected demand. We own all of our manufacturing facilities, some of which are subject to finance leases or similar financial arrangements. Certain of our warehousing facilities are leased from third parties.

The following table summarizes Glass Packaging’s principal production facilities as of December 31, 2019.

Industry Overview

Glass packaging is utilized in a wide range of end‑use categories in the beverage and food market, as well as in applications such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and personal care. We principally operate in the beverage and food

end‑use categories and benefit from the premium appeal of glass packaging to spirits, craft beer, wine and other brand owners, as higher levels of design and differentiation support end‑user brand perception and loyalty.

We believe the purchasing decisions of retail consumers are significantly influenced by packaging. Consumer product manufacturers and marketers are increasingly using packaging as a means to position their products in the market and differentiate them on retailers’ shelves. The development and production of premium, specialized packaging products with a combination of value‑added features requires a higher level of design capabilities, manufacturing and process know‑how and quality control than for more standardized products. The glass packaging industry has continued to produce advances in light‑weighting technology and energy efficiency over many years, delivering supply chain benefits, as well as reducing raw material and energy usage in the manufacturing process, thereby increasing the appeal to end‑users, who are increasingly focused on sustainability.

Customers

In certain end‑use categories, such as beer, wine, spirits and non‑alcoholic beverages, revenues are relatively concentrated among key customers with whom we have strong, long‑term relationships, mirroring the recent consolidation in these end‑use categories. Our top ten customers in Glass Packaging accounted for 41% of total glass revenues in 2019. Some of our largest and longest‑standing customers include AB InBev, Bacardi, Carlsberg, Coca‑Cola, Constellation Brands, Diageo, Heineken, J.M. Smucker, The Kraft Heinz Company, PepsiCo, Pernod Ricard, Sazerac, and Treehouse Foods.

Glass packaging revenues are made pursuant to multi-year supply arrangements, a majority of which allow us to recover input cost inflation on some or all of our cost base. Our remaining revenues are subject to shorter arrangements, largely annual, which have provided, and which we expect will continue to provide, the basis for long‑term partnership with our customers. These customer arrangements are typically renegotiated annually (in terms of price and expected volume) and typically we have been able to recover the majority of input cost inflation which has impacted our cost base, as demonstrated by the generally consistent margins we have generated in the past, despite occasional volatility in certain input costs such as energy and freight and logistics costs.

Competitors

Our principal competitors in glass packaging include Anchor Glass and Owens‑Illinois in North America and Owens‑Illinois, Verallia and Vidrala in Europe.

Energy, Raw Materials and Suppliers

We use natural gas, electricity, oil and oxygen to fuel our furnaces. We have developed substantial backup systems, which protect our operations in the case of an interruption of our primary energy sources. We have multiple energy suppliers in both Europe and the United States, with contractual pricing arrangements typically linked to the relevant market index. We seek to mitigate the inherent risk in energy price fluctuations through a combination of contractual customer pass‑through agreements, fixed‑price procurement contracts, index tracking procurement contracts and hedging.

We have developed an active hedging strategy. In Europe, we typically hedge in small tranches and our policy is to hedge approximately 70% of our energy requirements before the beginning of the following year. In North America, customer contracts are almost exclusively multi‑year and provide for the pass‑through of movements in energy costs. Consequently, in North America our purchasing strategy for energy mirrors our customer contracts.

The primary raw materials used in our glass manufacturing operations are cullet, sand, soda ash and limestone. We have several country suppliers of cullet and a number of global and regional suppliers of soda ash. We seek to optimize the use of recycled glass in our production process as this enables the other raw materials to melt at lower temperatures, thereby lowering our energy costs and carbon emissions and prolonging furnace life.

Distribution

We use various freight and haulage contractors to make deliveries to customer sites or warehousing facilities. In some cases, customers make their own delivery arrangements and therefore may purchase from us on an ex‑works basis. Warehousing facilities are primarily situated at our manufacturing facilities; however, in some regions, we use networks of externally‑rented warehouses at strategic third‑party locations, close to major customers’ filling operations.

Intellectual Property and Innovation, Development and Engineering

Heye International has an extensive portfolio of patents covering the design of equipment for the manufacture of glass packaging. It also has substantial proprietary knowledge of the technology and processes involved in the production of glass packaging, based on its history of more than 40 years as a leading supplier of engineering solutions to the industry globally. It has entered into a large number of agreements to provide technical assistance and technology support to glass packaging manufacturers for which it receives annual fees.

We support an innovation, development and design effort, particularly at Heye International, which we believe is important to our ability to compete effectively. We are a member of glass research associations and other organizations that are engaged in initiatives aimed at improving the manufacturing processes and the quality and design of products, while continuing to meet our environmental responsibilities. In addition, we have three glass engineering facilities in Europe and the United States and we operate one of the largest in‑house decoration facilities in the European glass packaging industry.

Joint Venture

We hold a stake of approximately 42% in Trivium Packaging B.V. Trivium is a leading supplier of innovative, value-added, infinitely-recyclable metal packaging solutions with revenues of approximately $2.7 billion. Its products principally comprise metal packaging in the form of cans and aerosol containers, serving a broad range of end-use categories, including food, seafood, pet food and nutrition, as well as beauty and personal care. Trivium’s customer base spreads over 1,300 customers across more than 70 countries, comprised of multi-national companies, large national and regional companies and small local businesses. In its target regions of Europe, North America and South America, its customers include a wide variety of consumer packaged goods companies, which own some of the best-known brands in the world. Trivium has 56 facilities, located in 21 countries, and has approximately 7,800 employees.

In connection with the formation of Trivium, Ardagh entered into a shareholders agreement with Element Holdings II L.P., an entity controlled by Ontario Teachers, (the “JV Partner”) and Trivium (the “Trivium Shareholders Agreement), containing provisions relating to the governance of Trivium, including (i) the formation of a nine person supervisory board (including up to five members to be designated or nominated by the JV Partner and up to four members to be designated or nominated by Ardagh) and (ii) the formation of a management board. The Trivium Shareholders Agreement reserves certain matters that require the approval of shareholders holding shares constituting at least 70% of the then-outstanding shares of Trivium, including its annual budget and five year business plan, material acquisitions or dispositions, mergers, demergers or consolidations, issuances or repurchases of its shares, incurrence of indebtedness over a certain amount, incurrence of unbudgeted capital expenditure (over a certain limit), related party transactions, distributions or dividends, the adoption of a management incentive plan, or a change in accounting policies, the adoption of the audited financial statements or the appointment or termination of members of the senior management team.

The Trivium Shareholders Agreement contains a non-competition covenant providing that none of the JV Partner or its subsidiaries and none of Ardagh or its subsidiaries will, directly or indirectly, engage in the development, manufacture, marketing or sale of metal food or specialty cans (including aerosol cans), in each case as developed, manufactured, marketed or sold by Trivium as of the date of the Trivium Shareholders Agreement), with certain limited exceptions; provided, that Ardagh is permitted to develop, manufacture, market or sell containers for the beverage market, including aluminum bottles.

The Trivium Shareholders Agreement contains customary non-solicitation covenants restricting the JV Partner and Ardagh from soliciting or hiring individuals who are employed by the other party or its affiliates. The Trivium Shareholders Agreement also contains provisions restricting the transfer of Trivium shares prior to an initial public offering of Trivium, including granting the non-transferring shareholder “tag-along” rights on customary terms.  In addition, the Trivium Shareholders Agreement grants the JV Partner and Ardagh certain additional rights with respect to their Trivium shares, including pre-emptive rights, registration rights, certain liquidity rights, and purchase rights in the event Ardagh or the JV Partner undergoes a change of control.

Environmental, Health and Safety and Product Safety Regulation

Our operations and properties are regulated under a wide range of laws, ordinances and regulations and other legal requirements concerning the environment, health and safety and product safety in each jurisdiction in which we operate. We believe that our manufacturing facilities are in compliance, in all material respects, with these laws and regulations.

The principal environmental issues facing us include the impact on air quality through gas and particle emissions, including the emission of greenhouse gases, the environmental impact of the disposal of water used in our production processes, generation and disposal of waste, the receiving, use and storage of hazardous and non‑hazardous materials and the potential contamination and subsequent remediation of land, surface water and groundwater arising from our operations.

Our substantial operations in the EU are subject to, among additional requirements, the requirements of the IED which requires that operators of industrial installations, including glass manufacturing and can making installations, take into account the whole environmental performance of the installation and obtain and maintain compliance with a permit, which sets emission limit values that are based on best available techniques.

Our EU glass production facilities are also regulated under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, now in its third phase which runs until December 31, 2020. Under this regime, the European Commission sets emission caps for greenhouse gases for all installations covered by the scheme, which are then implemented by the EU member states. Installations that emit less than their greenhouse gas emission cap can sell emission allowances on the open market and installations that exceed their emission cap are required to buy emission allowances and are penalized if they are unable to surrender the required amount of allowances at the end of each trading year. California has enacted a similar greenhouse gas reduction scheme that works on a cap and trade basis and that applies to our manufacturing operations in the state, requiring us to purchase offsets against our greenhouse gas emissions. Other states where we have operations, such as Washington, are expected to implement similar programs. In addition, the EPA has also begun to regulate certain greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

Furthermore, the EU Directive on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage aims to make those who cause damage to the environment (specifically damage to habitats and species protected by EU law, damage to water resources and land contamination which presents a threat to human health) financially responsible for its remediation. It requires operators of industrial premises (including those which hold a permit governed by the IED) to take preventive measures to avoid environmental damage, inform the regulators when such damage has or may occur and to remediate contamination.

Our operations are also subject to stringent and complex U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection, including the discharge of materials into the environment, health and safety and product safety including, but not limited to: the U.S. federal Clean Air Act, the U.S. federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, the U.S. federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”). These laws and regulations may, among other things (i) require obtaining permits to conduct industrial operations; (ii) restrict the types and quantities and concentration of various substances that can be released into the environment; (iii) result in the suspension or revocation of necessary permits, licenses and authorizations; (iv) require that additional pollution controls be installed and (v) require remedial measures to mitigate pollution from

former and ongoing operations, including related natural resource damages. Specifically, certain U.S. environmental laws, such as CERCLA, or Superfund, and analogous state laws, provide for strict, and under certain circumstances, joint and several liability for the investigation and remediation of releases or the disposal of regulated materials into the environment including soil and groundwater, as well as for damages to natural resources.

In North America, sales of beverage cans and bottles are affected by governmental regulation of packaging, including deposit return laws. As of January 1, 2019, there were ten U.S. states with container deposit laws in effect, requiring consumer deposits of between 5 and 15 cents (USD), depending on the size of the container or product. In Canada, there are 10 provinces and three territories. Deposit laws cover some form of beverage container in all provinces and territories except the territory of Nunavut, which does not have a deposit program. The range for deposits are between 5 and 40 cents (Canadian Dollar), depending on size of container and type of beverage.

A wider roll out of packaging deposit return systems (DRS) in Europe can lead to cost increases for collection and recycling of glass containers and beverage cans and therefore potentially have impacts on the packaging material mix at retailers.

Many beverages and containers, particularly new product innovations and unique alcohol beverage products, are not clearly defined in U.S. and Canadian deposit laws. The text of some U.S. and Canadian deposit laws expressly exempts certain beverages or containers from application of the deposit laws. In many states, certain common beverage categories are simply not found in the text of the deposit law. Local agencies provide final decisions on the application of deposit laws.

We are also committed to ensuring that safe operating practices are established, implemented and maintained throughout our organization. In addition, we have instituted active health and safety programs throughout our company. See “Item 3. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business—We are subject to various environmental and other legal requirements and may be subject to new requirements of this kind in the future that could impose substantial costs upon us”.

The following table provides information relating to our principal operating subsidiaries, all of which are wholly owned, at December 31, 2019.

See "Item 4.—Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Metal Beverage Packaging-Manufacturing and Production" and Item 4.—Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Glass Packaging-Manufacturing and Production".