(Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire)NEW YORK, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today Bruce Raynor, President of Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, sent a letter [see below] to Henry J. Theisen, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bemis Company. In his letter Mr. Raynor calls on Mr. Theisen to provide key details regarding the company's planned acquisition of Alcan Food Packaging Americas, including information about the anti-trust regulatory hurdles the company must clear as well as integration and other concerns to investors.

   August 19, 2009     Henry J. Theisen   President and Chief Executive Officer   Bemis Company, Inc. One Neenah Center P.O. Box 669   Neenah, WI 54957    Dear Mr. Theisen,   

I am writing on behalf of Workers United to express our growing concern over Bemis Company Inc.'s pending acquisition of Alcan Food Packaging Americas from Rio Tinto plc. We are long-term stakeholders in Bemis, both as a representative of the company's employees and as shareholders of the company through pension plans maintained for the retirement benefits of thousands of workers. We fear that the proposed transaction may negatively affect the company's long-term success and request that the company address some key questions we have.

First, we are concerned about the debt load that Bemis will incur in order to facilitate the Alcan acquisition. According to company sources, Bemis plans to finance the deal with $1 billion in new debt. Prior to the deal, the company's debt to capital ratio stood at approximately 26%. With the addition of the new debt Bemis has announced will be used to finance the deal, the company's debt-to-capital ratio is expected to balloon to 48%, which is substantially higher than the firm's targeted ratio of 30% to 40%. The transaction will increase Bemis's total debt by 170%.

Bemis has traditionally maintained a conservative debt-to-capital ratio and has been wary of acquiring a heavy debt load. As a stakeholder, we are concerned over the impact of the company's decision to assume a heavy debt load and substantially alter the company's size and capital structure in the midst of a global economic recession.

Second, Bemis Company's history of recent legal troubles and federal prosecution around alleged anti- competitive practices may decrease the likelihood that the Alcan transaction will receive necessary regulatory approval. In April 2003, the Department of Justice successfully enjoined Bemis Company's proposed sale of subsidiary Morgan Adhesive (MACtac) to UPM-Kymmene on the grounds that it would undermine competition in the U.S. labelstock industry.