UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

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8-K

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CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): April 6, 2020

BERRY GLOBAL GROUP, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

101 Oakley Street

Evansville, Indiana 47710

 (Address of principal executive offices / Zip Code)

(812) 424-2904

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act.

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act.

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act.

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act.

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

On April 6, 2020, Berry Global Group, Inc. (“Berry” or the “Company”) issued a press release providing a business update given the effects of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).  Berry’s press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated by reference herein.

The information in this Item 2.02 of this Current Report on Form 8-K and the exhibit hereto shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, regardless of any general incorporation by reference language in such filing. 

Berry’s actual results may differ materially from the preliminary information provided in the accompanying press release.  Factors that could cause these preliminary estimates to differ include, but are not limited to, discovery of new information that alters expectations about such results or impacts valuation methodologies underlying such results.

Statements in the accompanying press release that are not historical, including statements relating to the expected future performance of the Company, are considered “forward looking” within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are presented pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “outlook,” or “looking forward,” or similar expressions that relate to our strategy, plans, or intentions.  All statements we make relating to our estimated and projected earnings, margins, costs, expenditures, cash flows, growth rates, and financial results or to our expectations regarding future industry trends are forward-looking statements.  In addition, we, through our senior management team, from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning our expected future operations and performance and other developments.  These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may change at any time, and, therefore, our actual results may differ materially from those that we expected.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, which we refer to as cautionary statements, are disclosed under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, in conjunction with the forward-looking statements included in the accompanying press release.  All forward-looking information and subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us, or to persons acting on our behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements.  Some of the factors that we believe could affect our results include:  (1) risks associated with our substantial indebtedness and debt service; (2) changes in prices and availability of resin and other raw materials and our ability to pass on changes in raw material prices to our customers on a timely basis; (3) risks related to acquisitions or divestitures and integration of acquired businesses and their operations, and realization of anticipated cost savings and synergies; (4) risks related to international business, including as a result of the RPC transaction, including foreign currency exchange rate risk and the risks of compliance with applicable export controls, sanctions, anti-corruption laws and regulations; (5) uncertainty regarding the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union and the outcome of future arrangements between the United Kingdom and the European Union; (6) reliance on unpatented proprietary know-how and trade secrets; (7) risks related to the phase-out of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), or the replacement of LIBOR with a different reference rate or modification of the method used to calculate LIBOR; (8) increases in the cost of compliance with laws and regulations, including environmental, safety, and production and product laws and regulations; (9) employee shutdowns or strikes or the failure to renew effective bargaining agreements; (10) risks related to disruptions in the overall economy and the financial markets that may adversely impact our business, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; (11) risk of catastrophic loss of one of our key manufacturing facilities, natural disasters, and other unplanned business interruptions; (12) risks related to the failure of, inadequacy of, or attacks on our information technology systems and infrastructure; (13) risks related to market acceptance of our developing technologies and products; (14) general business and economic conditions, particularly an economic downturn; (15) risks that our restructuring programs may entail greater implementation costs or result in lower cost savings than anticipated; (16) ability of our insurance to fully cover potential exposures; (17) risks related to future write-offs of substantial goodwill; (18) risks of competition, including foreign competition, in our existing and future markets; (19) new legislation or new regulations and the Company’s corresponding interpretations of either may affect our business and consolidated financial condition and results of operations; (20) risk related to the impact of travel and safety restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic on our internal controls over financial reporting, including the ongoing process of implementing standardized internal control procedures within the recently acquired RPC Group business; and (21) the other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you.  Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on those statements.  All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us on the date of the accompanying press release.  All forward-looking statements are made only as of the date thereof and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

(d) Exhibits.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

	BERRY GLOBAL GROUP, INC. (Registrant)
Dated:  April 8, 2020	By:	/s/ Jason K. Greene
	Name:	Jason K. Greene
	Title:	Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary