SILGAN HOLDINGS INC - Annual Report: 2011 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011

or

For the transition period from                 to                 

Commission file number 000-22117

SILGAN HOLDINGS INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (203) 975-7110

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

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨     No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  x

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

        The aggregate market value of the Registrant’s Common Stock held by non-affiliates, computed by reference to the price at which the Registrant’s Common Stock was last sold as of June 30, 2011, the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $2.029 billion. Common Stock of the Registrant held by executive officers and directors of the Registrant has been excluded from this computation in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not a conclusive determination for other purposes.

As of February 1, 2012, the number of shares outstanding of the Registrant’s Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, was 69,883,808.

Documents Incorporated by Reference:

Portions of the Registrant’s Proxy Statement, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for its Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held in 2012 are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

GENERAL

We are a leading manufacturer of rigid packaging for consumer goods products. We had consolidated net sales of approximately $3.51 billion in 2011. Our products are used for a wide variety of end markets and we operate 82 manufacturing plants in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. Our products include:

We are a leading manufacturer of metal containers in North America and Europe, and in North America we are the largest manufacturer of metal food containers with a unit volume market share in the United States in 2011 of approximately half of the market. Our leadership in these markets is driven by our high levels of quality, service and technological support, our low cost producer position, our strong long-term customer relationships and our proximity to customers through our widespread geographic presence. We have 44 metal container manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Europe and Asia, serving over 50 countries throughout the world, which includes several new facilities in developing Eastern countries scheduled to become operational in the near term. Additionally, we believe that we have the most comprehensive equipment capabilities in the industry. For 2011, our metal container business had net sales of $2.21 billion (approximately 63.0 percent of our consolidated net sales) and income from operations of $256.3 million (approximately 74.3 percent of our consolidated income from operations excluding income from operations from corporate).

We are also a leading worldwide manufacturer of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products. Our leadership position in vacuum closures is a result of our ability to provide customers with high levels of quality, service and technological support. Our closures business provides customers with an extensive variety of proprietary metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures that ensure closure quality and safety, as well as state-of-the-art capping/sealing equipment and detection systems to complement our closure product offering. In addition, we manufacture plastic closures for the North American dairy and juice markets. We have 16 closures manufacturing facilities located in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, from which we serve over 70 countries throughout the world. In addition, we license our technology to five other manufacturers for various markets we do not serve directly. For 2011, our closures business had net sales of $687.8 million (approximately 19.6 percent of our consolidated net sales) and income from operations of $75.9 million (approximately 22.0 percent of our consolidated income from operations excluding income from operations from corporate).

Additionally, we are a leading manufacturer of plastic containers in North America for a variety of markets, including the personal care, health care, household and industrial chemical and food markets. Our success in the plastic packaging market is largely due to our demonstrated ability to provide our customers with high levels of quality, service and technological support, along with our value-added design-focused products and our extensive geographic presence with 22 manufacturing facilities in the United States and Canada. We produce plastic containers from a full range of resin materials and offer a comprehensive array of molding and decorating capabilities. For 2011, our plastic container business had net sales of $609.9 million (approximately 17.4 percent of our consolidated net sales) and income from

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operations of $12.6 million (approximately 3.7 percent of our consolidated income from operations excluding income from operations from corporate).

Our customer base includes some of the world’s best-known branded consumer products companies. Our philosophy has been to develop long-term customer relationships by acting in partnership with our customers by providing reliable quality, service and technological support and utilizing our low cost producer position. The strength of our customer relationships is evidenced by our large number of multi-year supply arrangements, our high retention of customers’ business and our continued recognition from customers, as demonstrated by the many quality and service awards we have received. We estimate that in 2012 approximately 90 percent of our projected metal container sales in North America, a majority of our projected closures sales in the United States and a majority of our projected plastic container sales will be under multi-year customer supply arrangements.

Our objective is to increase shareholder value by efficiently deploying capital and management resources to grow our business, reduce operating costs and build sustainable competitive positions, or franchises, and to complete acquisitions that generate attractive cash returns. We believe that we will accomplish this goal because of our leading market positions and management expertise in acquiring, financing, integrating and efficiently operating consumer goods packaging businesses.

OUR HISTORY

We are a Delaware corporation. We were founded in 1987 by our Non-Executive Co-Chairmen of the Board, R. Philip Silver and D. Greg Horrigan. Since our inception, we have acquired twenty-seven businesses. As a result of the benefits of acquisitions and organic growth, we have become a leading manufacturer of metal containers in North America and Europe and have increased our overall share of the metal food container market in the United States from approximately 10 percent in 1987 to approximately half of the market in 2011. Through acquisitions, we have become a leading worldwide manufacturer of vacuum closures for food and beverage products, with net sales of $687.8 million in 2011. We have also grown our market position in the plastic container business since 1987, with net sales increasing almost sevenfold to $609.9 million in 2011. The following chart shows our acquisitions since our inception:

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In March 2011, we acquired the metal container operations of Vogel & Noot Holding AG, or VN, headquartered in Vienna, Austria. VN manufactures metal food and general line containers and operates 15 metal container manufacturing facilities in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia, which includes several new locations in developing Eastern countries scheduled to become operational in the near term. With our acquisition of VN, we became a leading manufacturer of metal containers in Europe.

In March 2011, we also acquired the twist-off metal closures operations of DGS S.A. in Poland, or DGS. We have subsequently consolidated such operations into our existing closures facilities in Poland.

In September 2011, we completed our acquisition of Nestlé Purina PetCare’s steel container self-manufacturing assets, or Purina Steel Can, and consolidated such assets into our existing metal container facilities in the United States. In connection with this acquisition, we entered into a long-term supply agreement with Nestlé Purina PetCare for the steel container volume previously manufactured by Purina Steel Can.

OUR STRATEGY

We intend to enhance our position as a leading manufacturer of consumer goods packaging products by continuing to aggressively pursue a strategy designed to achieve future growth and increase shareholder value by focusing on the following key elements:

SUPPLY “BEST VALUE” PACKAGING PRODUCTS WITH HIGH LEVELS OF QUALITY, SERVICE AND TECHNOLOGICAL SUPPORT

Since our inception, we have been, and intend to continue to be, devoted to consistently supplying our products with the combination of quality, price and service that our customers consider to be “best value.” In our metal container business, we focus on providing high quality and high levels of service and utilizing

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our low cost producer position. We have made and are continuing to make significant capital investments to offer our customers value-added features such as our family of Quick Top^® easy-open ends for our metal food containers, shaped metal food containers and alternative color offerings for metal food containers. In our closures business, we emphasize high levels of quality, service and technological support. We believe our closures business is the premier innovative closures solutions provider to the food and beverage industry by offering customers an extensive variety of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures and plastic closures for the dairy and juice markets, as well as proprietary equipment solutions such as cap feeders, cappers and detection systems to ensure high quality package safety. In our plastic container business, we provide high levels of quality and service and focus on value-added, custom designed plastic containers to meet changing product and packaging demands of our customers. We believe that we are one of the few plastic packaging businesses that can custom design, manufacture and decorate a wide variety of plastic containers and plastic tubes, providing the customer with the ability to satisfy more of its plastic packaging needs through one supplier. We will continue to supply customized products that can be delivered quickly to our customers with superior levels of design, development and technological support.

MAINTAIN LOW COST PRODUCER POSITION

We will continue pursuing opportunities to strengthen our low cost position in our business by:

Through our metal container facilities, we believe that we provide the most comprehensive manufacturing capabilities in the industry. Through our closures business, we manufacture an extensive variety of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for the food and beverage industry throughout the world utilizing state-of-the-art technology and equipment, and we provide our customers with state-of-the-art capping/sealing equipment and detection systems. Through our plastic container facilities, we have the capacity to manufacture customized products across the entire spectrum of resin materials, decorating techniques and molding processes required by our customers. We intend to leverage our manufacturing, design and engineering capabilities to continue to create cost-effective manufacturing systems that will drive our improvements in product quality, operating efficiency and customer support.

MAINTAIN AN OPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE TO SUPPORT GROWTH AND INCREASE SHAREHOLDER VALUE

Our financial strategy is to use reasonable leverage to support our growth and increase shareholder returns. Our stable and predictable cash flow, generated largely as a result of our long-term customer relationships and generally recession resistant business, supports our financial strategy. We intend to continue using reasonable leverage, supported by our stable cash flows, to make value enhancing acquisitions. In determining reasonable leverage, we evaluate our cost of capital and manage our level of debt to maintain an optimal cost of capital based on current market conditions. If acquisition opportunities are not identified over a longer period of time, we may use our cash flow to repay debt, repurchase shares of our common stock or increase dividends to our stockholders or for other permitted purposes. In 2010, we used a significant amount of cash on hand and borrowings under our previous senior secured credit facility, or our 2010 Credit Facility, to repurchase 7.1 million shares of our common stock for $247.0 million (excluding fees and expenses of $0.8 million) and to purchase IPEC Global, Inc., or IPEC. In March 2011, we

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funded the purchase price for VN with Euro denominated borrowings under our 2010 Credit Facility. In July 2011, we refinanced our 2010 Credit Facility with a new $1.9 billion senior secured credit facility, or our Credit Agreement, which provides us with greater borrowing availability and greater flexibility for acquisitions, repurchases of stock and other strategic initiatives. In the third quarter of 2011, we funded repurchases of our common stock for $15.8 million and the purchase price for Purina Steel Can with cash on hand. As a result of incremental borrowings under our Credit Agreement and our operating cash flow, we ended 2011 with $397.1 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand, which we can use to fund our working capital requirements or for other strategic initiatives. In addition, at December 31, 2011, we had $761.3 million and Cdn $10 million of revolving loans available to us under our Credit Agreement for working capital requirements and other strategic initiatives.

EXPAND THROUGH ACQUISITIONS AND INTERNAL GROWTH

We intend to continue to increase our market share in our current business lines through acquisitions and internal growth. We use a disciplined approach to make acquisitions that generate attractive cash returns. As a result, we expect to continue to expand and diversify our customer base, geographic presence and product lines. This strategy has enabled us to increase our net sales and income from operations over the last ten years.

In 2011, we expanded our metal container business into Central and Eastern Europe with our acquisition of VN. As a result, we are now a leading manufacturer of metal containers in North America and Europe. Through VN, we are further expanding our metal container business into developing Eastern countries, with several new locations expected to become operational there in the near term.

Additionally, during the past twenty-five years, the metal food container market in North America has experienced significant consolidation primarily due to the desire by food processors to reduce costs and focus resources on their core operations rather than self-manufacture their metal food containers. Our acquisitions of the metal food container manufacturing operations of Nestlé Food Company, or Nestlé, The Dial Corporation, or Dial, Del Monte Corporation, or Del Monte, Birds Eye Foods, Inc., or Birds Eye, Campbell Soup Company, or Campbell, Pacific Coast Producers, or Pacific Coast, and, most recently, Purina Steel Can reflect this trend. We estimate that approximately five percent of the market for metal food containers in the United States is still served by self-manufacturers.

While we have expanded our metal container business and increased our market share of metal containers primarily through acquisitions, we have also made over the last several years, and are continuing to make, significant capital investments in our metal container business to enhance our business and offer our customers value-added features, such as our family of Quick Top^® easy-open ends for metal food containers, shaped metal food containers and alternative color offerings for metal food containers. In 2011, approximately 65 percent of our metal food containers sold had a Quick Top^® easy-open end. In addition, we are making significant capital investments to expand VN into new developing Eastern countries.

With our acquisitions of our closures operations in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, we established ourselves as a leading worldwide manufacturer of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products, with leadership positions in the North American and European markets. In 2010, we broadened our closures business through our acquisition of IPEC which manufacturers plastic closures primarily for the North American dairy and juice markets. We may pursue further consolidation opportunities in the closures markets in which we operate. Additionally, we expect to continue to generate internal growth in our closures business, particularly in plastic vacuum closures. In making investments for internal growth, we use a disciplined approach to pursue internal growth in order to generate attractive cash returns.

We have grown our market position for our plastic container business since 1987, with net sales increasing almost sevenfold to $609.9 million in 2011. We achieved this improvement primarily through

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strategic acquisitions as well as through internal growth. The plastic containers segment of the consumer goods packaging industry is highly fragmented, and we intend to pursue further consolidation opportunities in this market. Over the long term, we also expect to continue to generate internal growth in our plastic container business. As with acquisitions, we use a disciplined approach to pursue internal growth in order to generate attractive cash returns. Through a combination of these efforts, we intend to continue to expand our customer base in the markets that we serve, such as the personal care, health care, pharmaceutical, household and industrial chemical, food, pet care, agricultural chemical, automotive and marine chemical markets.

ENHANCE PROFITABILITY THROUGH PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS AND COST REDUCTIONS

We intend to continue to enhance profitability through productivity and cost reduction opportunities. The additional sales and production capacity provided through acquisitions have enabled us to rationalize plant operations and decrease overhead costs through plant closings and downsizings. From 2007, we have closed three metal container manufacturing facilities, one closures manufacturing facility and two plastic container manufacturing facilities in connection with our continuing efforts to streamline our plant operations, reduce operating costs and better match supply with geographic demand. In addition, we have consolidated various positions in our corporate offices across all businesses to further enhance profitability. In furtherance of such efforts, in 2012 we announced plans to close an additional plastic container manufacturing facility, and we have implemented further workforce reductions in our closures business.

We would expect that most future acquisitions will continue to enable us to realize manufacturing efficiencies as a result of optimizing production scheduling and other benefits from economies of scale and the elimination of redundant selling and administrative functions. In addition to the benefits realized through the integration of acquired businesses, we have improved and expect to continue to improve the operating performance of our plant facilities by investing capital for productivity improvements and manufacturing cost reductions. While we have made some of these investments in certain of our plants, more opportunities still exist throughout our system. We will continue to use a disciplined approach to identify these opportunities to generate attractive cash returns.

BUSINESS SEGMENTS

We are a holding company that conducts our business through various operating subsidiaries. We operate three businesses, our metal container business, our closures business and our plastic container business.

METAL CONTAINERS—63.0 PERCENT OF OUR CONSOLIDATED NET SALES IN 2011

We are a leading manufacturer of metal containers in North America and Europe, and in North America we are the largest manufacturer of metal food containers with a unit volume market share in the United States in 2011 of approximately half of the market. Our metal container business is engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and aluminum containers that are used primarily by processors and packagers for food products, such as soup, vegetables, fruit, meat, tomato based products, coffee, seafood, adult nutritional drinks, pet food and other miscellaneous food products, as well as general line metal containers primarily for chemicals. For 2011, our metal container business had net sales of $2.21 billion (approximately 63.0 percent of our consolidated net sales) and income from operations of $256.3 million (approximately 74.3 percent of our consolidated income from operations excluding income from operations from corporate). We estimate that approximately 90 percent of our projected North American metal container sales in 2012 will be pursuant to multi-year customer supply arrangements.

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Although metal containers face competition from plastic, paper, glass and composite containers, we believe metal containers are superior to plastic, paper and composite containers in applications where the contents are processed at high temperatures, or packaged in larger consumer or institutional quantities, or where the long-term storage of the product is desirable while maintaining the product’s quality. We also believe that metal containers are generally more desirable than glass containers because metal containers are more durable and less costly to transport. Additionally, while the market for metal food containers in the United States has experienced little or no growth over the last ten years, we have increased our market share of metal food containers in the United States primarily through acquisitions, and have enhanced our business by focusing on providing customers with high quality, high levels of service and value-added features such as our family of Quick Top^® easy-open ends, shaped metal food containers and alternative color offerings for metal food containers.

In 2011, we expanded our metal container business into Central and Eastern Europe with our acquisition of VN. Through VN, we are further expanding our metal container business into developing Eastern countries, with several new locations expected to become operational there in the near term.

CLOSURES—19.6 PERCENT OF OUR CONSOLIDATED NET SALES IN 2011

We are a leading worldwide manufacturer of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products. Our closures business provides customers with an extensive variety of proprietary metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures that ensure closure quality and safety, as well as state-of-the-art capping/sealing equipment and detection systems to complement our closures product offering. In addition, through our acquisition of IPEC we also provide plastic closures to the dairy and juice markets. We have 16 manufacturing facilities located in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, from which we serve over 70 countries throughout the world. In addition, we license our technology to five other manufacturers for various markets we do not serve. For 2011, our closures business had net sales of $687.8 million (approximately 19.6 percent of our consolidated net sales) and income from operations of $75.9 million (approximately 22.0 percent of our consolidated income from operations excluding income from operations from corporate).

We manufacture metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products, such as juices and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas, sports and energy drinks, ketchup, salsa, pickles, tomato sauce, soup, cooking sauces, gravies, fruits, vegetables, preserves, baby food, baby juices and infant formula products. We provide customers of our closures business with custom formulations of sealing/lining materials, designed to minimize removal torques and to enhance openability of our closures while meeting applicable regulatory requirements. We offer our customers an extensive range of printing options for our closures. We also provide customers with sealing/capping equipment and detection systems to complement our closures product offering for food and beverage products. In addition, through our acquisition of IPEC we also provide plastic closures to the dairy and juice markets. As a result of our extensive range of closures, our geographic presence and our focus on providing high levels of quality, service and technological support, we believe that we are uniquely positioned to serve food and beverage product companies for their closure needs.

PLASTIC CONTAINERS—17.4 PERCENT OF OUR CONSOLIDATED NET SALES IN 2011

We produce plastic containers from a full range of resin materials and offer a comprehensive array of molding and decorating capabilities. We are one of the leading manufacturers of custom designed high density polyethylene, or HDPE, and polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, containers for the personal care market in North America. For 2011, our plastic container business had net sales of $609.9 million (approximately 17.4 percent of our consolidated net sales) and income from operations of $12.6 million (approximately 3.7 percent of our consolidated income from operations excluding income from operations from corporate). Since 1987, we have improved our market position for our plastic container business, with net sales increasing almost sevenfold.

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We manufacture custom designed and stock HDPE containers for personal care and health care products, including containers for shampoos, conditioners, hand creams, lotions, cosmetics and toiletries; household and industrial chemical products, including containers for scouring cleaners, cleaning agents and lawn, garden and agricultural chemicals; and pharmaceutical products, including containers for tablets, antacids and eye cleaning solutions. We manufacture custom designed and stock PET containers for mouthwash, shampoos, conditioners, respiratory and gastrointestinal products, liquid soap, skin care lotions, peanut butter, salad dressings, condiments and liquor. Additionally, we manufacture plastic tubes primarily for personal care products such as skin lotions and hair treatment products. We also manufacture plastic containers, closures, caps, sifters and fitments for food, household and pet care products, including salad dressings, peanut butter, spices, liquid margarine, powdered drink mixes and arts and crafts supplies, as well as thermoformed plastic tubs for personal care and household products, including soft fabric wipes, and multi-layer microwaveable and retortable plastic bowls for food products.

Our leading position in the plastic container market is largely driven by our rapid response to our customers’ design, development and technology support needs and our value-added, diverse product line. This product line is the result of our ability to produce plastic containers from a full range of resin materials using a broad array of manufacturing, molding and decorating capabilities. We also have the ability to manufacture decorated plastic tubes for our customers, providing our customers with the ability to satisfy more of their plastic packaging needs through one supplier. We benefit from our large scale and nationwide presence, as significant consolidation is occurring in many of our customers’ markets. Through these capabilities, we are well-positioned to serve our customers, who demand customized solutions as they continue to seek innovative means to differentiate their products in the marketplace using packaging.

MANUFACTURING AND PRODUCTION

As is the practice in the industry, most of our customers provide us with quarterly or annual estimates of products and quantities pursuant to which periodic commitments are given. These estimates enable us to effectively manage production and control working capital requirements. We schedule our production to meet customers’ requirements. Because the production time for our products is short, the backlog of customer orders in relation to our sales is not material.

As of February 1, 2012, we operated a total of 82 manufacturing facilities in eighteen different countries throughout the world that serve the needs of our customers.

METAL CONTAINER BUSINESS

The manufacturing operations of our metal container business include cutting, coating, lithographing, fabricating, assembling and packaging finished cans. We use three basic processes to produce cans. The traditional three-piece method requires three pieces of flat metal to form a cylindrical body with a welded side seam, a bottom and a top. High integrity of the side seam is assured by the use of sophisticated electronic weld monitors and organic coatings that are thermally cured by induction and convection processes. The other two methods of producing cans start by forming a shallow cup that is then formed into the desired height using either the draw and iron process or the draw and redraw process. Using the draw and redraw process, we manufacture steel and aluminum two-piece cans, the height of which generally does not exceed the diameter. For cans the height of which is greater than the diameter, we manufacture steel two-piece cans by using a drawing and ironing process. Quality and stackability of these cans are comparable to that of the shallow two-piece cans described above. We manufacture can bodies and ends from thin, high-strength aluminum alloys and steels by utilizing proprietary tool and die designs and selected can making equipment. We also manufacture our Quick Top^® easy-open ends from both steel and aluminum alloys in a sophisticated precision progressive die process. We regularly review our Quick Top^® easy-open end designs for improvements for optimum consumer preference through consumer studies and feedback.

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CLOSURES BUSINESS

The manufacturing operations for metal closures include cutting, coating, lithographing, fabricating and lining. We manufacture twist-off, lug style and press-on, twist-off steel closures and aluminum roll-on closures for glass, metal and plastic containers, ranging in size from 18 to 110 millimeters in diameter. We employ state-of-the-art multi-die presses to manufacture metal closures, offering a low-cost, high quality means of production. We also provide customers of our closures business with custom formulations of sealing/lining materials, designed to minimize torque removal and enhance the openability of our closures while meeting applicable regulatory requirements.

We utilize two basic processes to produce plastic closures. In the injection molded process, pellets of plastic resin are heated and injected into a mold, forming a plastic closure shell. The shell is then lined with a custom formulated, compression molded sealing system and printed depending on its end use. In the compression molded process, pellets of plastic resin are heated and extruded, and then compressed to form a plastic closure shell. The shell is then lined with a custom formulated, compression molded sealing system, slit and printed depending on its end use.

For composite closures, a metal panel is manufactured using the same manufacturing process for metal closures, including the use of custom formulations of sealing/lining materials, and then it is inserted into a plastic closure shell.

Through our acquisition of IPEC in 2010, we also manufacture plastic closures for the dairy and juice markets utilizing the injection molding process.

PLASTIC CONTAINER BUSINESS

We utilize two basic processes to produce plastic containers. In the extrusion blowmolding process, pellets of plastic resin are heated and extruded into a tube of plastic. A two-piece metal mold is then closed around the plastic tube and high pressure air is blown into it causing a bottle to form in the mold’s shape. In the injection and injection stretch blowmolding processes, pellets of plastic resin are heated and injected into a mold, forming a plastic preform. The plastic preform is then blown into a bottle-shaped metal mold, creating a plastic bottle.

In our proprietary plastic tube manufacturing process, we continually extrude a plastic tube in various diameters from pellets of plastic resin. A neck finish is then compression molded onto the plastic tube. The plastic tube is then decorated, and a cap or closure is put on the decorated plastic tube before it is shipped to the customer. Our process permits us to produce multi-layer tubes with barrier in the neck.

We also manufacture plastic closures, caps, sifters and fitments using runnerless injection molding technology. In this process, pellets of plastic resin are melted and forced under pressure into a mold, where they take the mold’s shape. Our thermoformed plastic tubs are manufactured by melting pellets of plastic resin into a plastic sheet. The plastic sheets are then stamped by hot molds to form plastic tubs.

We have state-of-the-art decorating equipment, including several of the largest sophisticated decorating facilities in the United States. Our decorating methods for plastic containers are in-mold labeling, which applies a plastic film label to the bottle during the blowing process, and post-mold decoration. For plastic tubes, we offer all commercially available post-mold decoration technologies. Post-mold decoration includes:

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RAW MATERIALS

Based upon our existing arrangements with suppliers and our current and anticipated requirements, we believe that we have made adequate provisions for acquiring our raw materials. As a result of significant consolidation of suppliers, we are, however, dependent upon a limited number of suppliers for our steel, aluminum, coatings and compound raw materials. Increases in the prices of raw materials have generally been passed along to our customers in accordance with our multi-year customer supply arrangements and through general price increases.

METAL CONTAINER BUSINESS

We use tin plated and chromium plated steel, aluminum, copper wire, organic coatings, lining compound and inks in the manufacture and decoration of our metal container products. Although there has been significant consolidation of suppliers, we believe that we have made adequate provisions to purchase sufficient quantities of these raw materials for the foreseeable future.

Our metal container supply arrangements with our customers in the United States provide for the pass through of changes in our metal costs. For our non-contract domestic customers, we have also generally increased prices to pass through increases in our metal costs. In Europe, most supply arrangements are negotiated annually, and we generally pass along changes in our raw material costs to customers. Although no assurances can be given, we expect to be able to purchase sufficient quantities of steel to timely meet all of our customers’ requirements in 2012.

Our material requirements are supplied through agreements and purchase orders with suppliers with whom we have long-term relationships. If our suppliers fail to deliver under their arrangements, we would be forced to purchase raw materials on the open market, and no assurances can be given that we would be able to purchase such raw materials or, if we are so able, that we would be able to purchase such raw materials at comparable prices or terms.

CLOSURES BUSINESS

We use tin plated and chromium plated steel, aluminum, organic coatings, low-metallic inks and pulpboard, plastic and organic lining materials in the manufacture of metal closures.

We use resins in pellet form, such as homopolymer polypropylene, copolymer polypropylene and HDPE, thermoplastic elastomer lining materials, processing additives and colorants in the manufacture of plastic closures.

Our domestic closures operations have generally passed along to customers changes in the prices of metal and resin raw materials in accordance with supply arrangements. For non-contract customers, our domestic closures operations have also generally passed through changes in our metal and resin costs. In Europe, most supply arrangements are negotiated annually, and we generally pass along changes in our raw material costs to customers. Although no assurances can be given, we believe we have made adequate provisions to purchase sufficient quantities of these raw materials for the foreseeable future, despite the significant consolidation of suppliers.

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PLASTIC CONTAINER BUSINESS

The raw materials we use in our plastic container business are primarily resins in pellet form such as virgin HDPE, virgin PET, recycled HDPE, recycled PET, polypropylene and, to a lesser extent, polystyrene, low density polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate glycol, polyvinyl chloride and medium density polyethylene. Our resin requirements are acquired through multi-year arrangements for specific quantities of resins with several major suppliers of resins. The price that we pay for resin raw materials is not fixed and is subject to market pricing, which has fluctuated significantly in the past few years. Our plastic container business has passed along to our customers changes in the prices of our resin raw materials in accordance with customer supply arrangements.

We believe that we have made adequate provisions to purchase sufficient quantities of resins for the foreseeable future, absent unforeseen events such as significant hurricanes.

SALES AND MARKETING

Our philosophy has been to develop long-term customer relationships by acting in partnership with our customers, providing reliable quality and service. We market our products primarily by a direct sales force and for our plastic container business, in part, through a network of distributors. Because of the high cost of transporting empty containers, our metal container business generally sells to customers within a 300 mile radius of its manufacturing plants.

In 2011, 2010, and 2009, approximately 11 percent of our consolidated net sales were to Nestlé in each such year, and approximately 10 percent, 12 percent and 12 percent, respectively, of our consolidated net sales were to Campbell. No other customer accounted for more than 10 percent of our total consolidated net sales during those years.

METAL CONTAINER BUSINESS

We are a leading manufacturer of metal containers in North America and Europe, and in North America we are the largest manufacturer of metal food containers with a unit volume market share in the United States in 2011 of approximately half of the market. We have 44 metal container manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Europe and Asia, serving over 50 countries throughout the world, which includes several new facilities in developing Eastern countries expected to become operational in the near term. Our largest customers for these products include Campbell, ConAgra Foods, Inc., Del Monte, General Mills, Inc., Hormel Foods Corp., or Hormel, Mars, Incorporated, Nestlé, Pacific Coast, Pinnacle Foods Group LLC, Stanislaus Food Products Company and Treehouse Foods, Inc.

We have entered into multi-year supply arrangements with many of our customers, including Nestlé, Campbell and other food producers. We estimate that approximately 90 percent of our projected North American metal container sales in 2012 will be pursuant to multi-year customer supply arrangements. Historically, we have been successful in continuing these multi-year customer supply arrangements. In Europe, our metal container business has had long-term relationships with many of its customers, although, as is common practice, many supply arrangements are negotiated on a year-by-year basis.

Since our inception in 1987, we have supplied Nestlé with substantially all of its U.S. metal food container requirements purchased from third party manufacturers. In September 2011, we completed our acquisition of Purina Steel Can from Nestlé and consolidated such assets into our existing metal container facilities in the United States. In connection with this acquisition, we entered into a ten year supply agreement with Nestlé for the steel container volume previously manufactured by Purina Steel Can. Our net sales of metal food containers to Nestlé in 2011 were $371.3 million. Currently, we have two supply agreements with Nestlé for a substantial portion of the metal food containers we supply Nestlé, which agreements run until December 2013 and September 2021, and an additional supply agreement with Nestlé

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that continues on a year-to-year basis, currently until December 2012. These supply agreements provide for certain prices and specify that those prices will be increased or decreased based upon cost change formulas.

In connection with our June 1998 acquisition of the steel container manufacturing business of Campbell, we entered into a ten-year supply agreement with Campbell to supply substantially all of Campbell’s steel container requirements to be used for the packaging of foods and beverages in the United States. In 2004, we extended the term of this supply agreement to the end of 2013. In April 2005, Campbell exercised its right to expand our supply agreement to include Campbell’s steel container requirements in Canada. In 2011, our net sales of metal food containers to Campbell were $326.1 million.

The Campbell agreement provides certain prices for containers supplied by us to Campbell and specifies that those prices will be increased or decreased based upon specified cost change formulas. The Campbell agreement permits Campbell to receive proposals from independent commercial can manufacturers for the supply of containers of a type and quality similar to the metal containers that we supply to Campbell. The proposals must be for the remainder of the term of the Campbell agreement and for 100 percent of the annual volume of containers at one or more of Campbell’s food processing plants. We have the right to retain the business subject to the terms and conditions of the competitive proposal. Upon any material breach by us, Campbell has the right to terminate this agreement. In addition, Campbell has the right, at the end of the term of the Campbell agreement or upon the occurrence of specified material defaults under other agreements with Campbell, to purchase from us the assets located at the former Campbell facilities that are used to manufacture containers for Campbell. We lease these former Campbell facilities from Campbell. The purchase price for the assets would be determined at the time of purchase in accordance with an agreed upon formula that is related to the net book value of the assets.

Our metal container business’ sales and income from operations are dependent, in part, upon the vegetable and fruit harvests in the midwest and western regions of the United States and, to a lesser extent, in a variety of national growing regions in Europe. The size and quality of these harvests varies from year to year, depending in large part upon the weather conditions in those regions. Because of the seasonality of the harvests, we have historically experienced higher unit sales volume in the third quarter of our fiscal year and generated a disproportionate amount of our annual income from operations during that quarter. You should also read “Risk Factors—The seasonality of the fruit and vegetable packing industry causes us to incur short term debt” included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

CLOSURES BUSINESS

We are a leading worldwide manufacturer of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products. We have 16 manufacturing facilities located in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, from which we serve over 70 countries throughout the world.

Our largest customers of our closures business include Andros Group, Campbell, Cliffstar Corp., The Coca-Cola Company, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., Heinz Group, Hipp GmbH & CoKG, The J.M. Smucker Company, Nestlé Group, PepsiCo Inc., Treehouse Foods, Inc. and Unilever N.V. We have multi-year supply arrangements with many of our customers in the United States. Outside of the United States, the closures business has had long-term relationships with most of its customers, although, as is common practice, many supply arrangements are negotiated on a year-by-year basis.

In addition, we license our technology to five other manufacturers who supply products in China, India, Israel, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.

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PLASTIC CONTAINER BUSINESS

We are one of the leading manufacturers of custom designed and stock HDPE and PET containers sold in North America for a variety of markets, including the personal care, health care, household and industrial chemical and food markets. We market our plastic containers, tubes and closures in most areas of North America through a direct sales force and a large network of distributors. More recently, we also market certain stock plastic containers for personal care and health care products through an on-line shopping catalog.

Our largest customers for our plastic container business include Alberto Culver USA, Inc., Avon Products Inc., Berlin Packaging, The Carriage House Inc., The Clorox Company, Henkel AG & Co KGaA, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, Inc., L’Oréal, McCormick & Company, Inc., The Procter & Gamble Company, Treehouse Foods, Inc., TricorBraun, Unilever Home and Personal Care North America and Best Foods (units of Unilever, N.V.) and Vi-Jon Inc.

We have arrangements to sell some of our plastic containers and closures to distributors, who in turn resell those products primarily to regional customers. Plastic containers sold to distributors are generally manufactured by using generic and custom molds with decoration added to meet the end users’ requirements. The distributors’ warehouses and their sales personnel enable us to market and inventory a wide range of such products to a variety of customers.

We have written purchase orders or contracts for the supply of containers with the majority of our customers. In general, these purchase orders and contracts are for containers made from proprietary molds and are for a duration of one to five years.

COMPETITION

The packaging industry is highly competitive. We compete in this industry with manufacturers of similar and other types of packaging, as well as fillers, food processors and packers who manufacture containers for their own use and for sale to others. We attempt to compete effectively through the quality of our products, competitive pricing and our ability to meet customer requirements for delivery, performance and technical assistance.

METAL CONTAINER BUSINESS

Of the commercial metal container manufacturers, Ardagh Group, Ball Corporation, Crown Holdings, Inc. and Mivisa Envases, S.A.U. are our most significant competitors. As an alternative to purchasing containers from commercial can manufacturers, customers have the ability to invest in equipment to self-manufacture their containers.

Because of the high cost of transporting empty containers, our metal container business generally sells to customers within a 300 mile radius of its manufacturing plants. Strategically located existing plants give us an advantage over competitors from other areas, but we could be potentially disadvantaged by the relocation of a major customer.

Although metal containers face competition from plastic, paper, glass and composite containers, we believe that metal containers are superior to plastic, composite and paper containers in applications, where the contents are processed at high temperatures or packaged in larger consumer or institutional quantities or where long-term storage of the product is desirable while maintaining the product’s quality. We also believe that metal containers are more desirable generally than glass containers because metal containers are more durable and less costly to transport.

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CLOSURES BUSINESS

Our closures business competes primarily with Berry Plastics Corporation, Closures Systems International, Inc. (part of Rank Group Limited), Crown Holdings, Inc., Groupe Massilly, Rexam PLC and Tecnocap S.p.a. With our ability to manufacture an extensive range of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures as well as state-of-the-art capping/sealing equipment and detection systems and our geographic presence, we believe we are uniquely positioned to serve food and beverage product companies for their closure needs.

PLASTIC CONTAINER BUSINESS

Our plastic container business competes with a number of large national producers of plastic containers, tubes and closures for personal care, health care, pharmaceutical, household and industrial chemical, food, pet care, agricultural chemical, automotive and marine chemical products. These competitors include Alpla-Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co., Amcor PET Packaging, Berry Plastics Corporation, CCL Industries Inc., Cebal Americas, Consolidated Container Company LLC, Constar International, Inc., Graham Packaging Company Inc. (part of Rank Group Limited), Plastipak Packaging Inc., Rexam PLC and Sonoco Products Company. To compete effectively in the constantly changing market for plastic containers, tubes and closures, we must remain current with, and to some extent anticipate, innovations in resin composition and applications and changes in the technology for the manufacturing of plastic containers, tubes and closures.

EMPLOYEES

As of December 31, 2011, we employed approximately 2,300 salaried and 6,400 hourly employees on a full-time basis. Approximately 47 percent of our hourly plant employees in the United States and Canada as of that date were represented by a variety of unions, and most of our hourly employees in Europe, Asia and South America were represented by a variety of unions or other labor organizations. In addition, as of December 31, 2011, Campbell provided us with approximately 100 hourly employees on a full-time basis at one of the facilities that we lease from Campbell.

Our labor contracts expire at various times between 2012 and 2015. As of December 31, 2011, contracts covering approximately 10 percent of our hourly employees in the United States and Canada will expire during 2012. We expect no significant changes in our relations with these unions.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND OTHER REGULATIONS

We are subject to federal, foreign, state and local environmental laws and regulations. In general, these laws and regulations limit the discharge of pollutants into the environment and establish standards for the treatment, storage, and disposal of solid and hazardous waste. We believe that we are either in compliance in all material respects with all presently applicable environmental laws and regulations or are operating in accordance with appropriate variances, schedules under compliance orders or similar arrangements.

In addition to costs associated with regulatory compliance, we may be held liable for alleged environmental damage associated with the past disposal of hazardous substances. Those that generate hazardous substances that are disposed of at sites at which environmental problems are alleged to exist, as well as the owners of those sites and other classes of persons, are subject to claims for clean up and natural resource damages under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA, regardless of fault or the legality of the original disposal. CERCLA and many similar state and foreign statutes may hold a responsible party liable for the entire cleanup cost at a particular site even though that party may not have caused the entire problem. Other state statutes may impose

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proportionate rather than joint and several liability. The federal Environmental Protection Agency or a state or foreign agency may also issue orders requiring responsible parties to undertake removal or remedial actions at sites.

We are also subject to the Occupational Safety and Health Act and other federal, foreign, state and local laws regulating noise exposure levels and other safety and health concerns in the production areas of our plants.

While management does not believe that any of the regulatory matters described above, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings, financial position or competitive position, we cannot assure you that a material environmental or other regulatory claim will not arise in the future.

RESEARCH AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Our research, product development and product engineering efforts relating to our metal container business are conducted at our research facilities in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Our research, product development and product engineering efforts relating to our metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures business for food and beverage products are conducted at our research facilities in Downers Grove, Illinois and Hannover, Germany. Our research, product development and product engineering efforts with respect to our plastic container business are performed by our manufacturing and engineering personnel located at our Norcross, Georgia facility. In addition to research, product development and product engineering, these sites also provide technical support to our customers. The amounts we have spent on research and development during the last three fiscal years are not material.

We rely on a combination of patents, trade secrets, unpatented know-how, technological innovation, trademarks and other intellectual property rights, nondisclosure agreements and other protective measures to protect our intellectual property. We do not believe that any individual item of our intellectual property portfolio is material to our business. We employ various methods, including confidentiality agreements and nondisclosure agreements, with third parties, employees and consultants to protect our trade secrets and know-how. However, others could obtain knowledge of our trade secrets and know-how through independent development or other means.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT SEGMENTS AND GEOGRAPHIC AREAS

Financial and other information by segment and relating to geographic areas for the fiscal years ending December 31, 2011, December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009 is set forth in Note 16 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2011 included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, our foreign operations for all our businesses generated $741.9 million of net sales, which represents approximately 21 percent of our consolidated net sales worldwide. For a discussion of risks attendant to our foreign operations, see “Risk Factors—Global economic conditions, disruptions in the credit markets and the instability of the Euro could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations,” “Risk Factors—Our international operations are subject to various risks that may adversely affect our financial results” and “Risk Factors—We are subject to the effects of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates” included elsewhere in this Annual Report, as well as “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk—Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk” included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. You may obtain information on the operation of the SEC’s Public

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Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains a website that contains annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information that issuers (including the Company) file electronically with the SEC. The internet address of the SEC’s website is http://www.sec.gov.

We maintain a website, the internet address of which is http://www.silganholdings.com. Information contained on our website is not part of this Annual Report. We make available free of charge on or through our website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K (and any amendments to those reports) and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of our directors and executive officers as soon as reasonably practicable after such documents are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

The following are certain risk factors that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently view as immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

OUR INDEBTEDNESS COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR CASH FLOW.

At December 31, 2011, we had $1,376.3 million of total consolidated indebtedness. We incurred much of this indebtedness as a result of financing acquisitions and refinancing our previously outstanding debt. In addition, at December 31, 2011, after taking into account letters of credit of $28.7 million, we had $761.3 million and Cdn $10 million of revolving loans available to be borrowed under our Credit Agreement. Under our Credit Agreement, we also have available to us an uncommitted multicurrency incremental loan facility in an amount of up to an additional $750 million, and we may incur additional indebtedness as permitted by our Credit Agreement and our other instruments governing our indebtedness.

A significant portion of our cash flow must be used to service our indebtedness and is therefore not available to be used in our business. Our ability to generate cash flow is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that may be beyond our control. In addition, a substantial portion of our indebtedness bears interest at floating rates, and therefore a substantial increase in interest rates could adversely impact our results of operations. Based on the average outstanding amount of our variable rate indebtedness in 2011, a one percentage point change in the interest rates for our variable rate indebtedness would have impacted our 2011 interest expense by an aggregate of approximately $10.2 million, after taking into account the average outstanding notional amount of our interest rate swap agreements during 2011.

Our indebtedness could have important consequences. For example, it could:

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DESPITE OUR CURRENT LEVELS OF INDEBTEDNESS, WE MAY INCUR ADDITIONAL DEBT IN THE FUTURE, WHICH COULD INCREASE THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR LEVERAGE.

We are continually evaluating and pursuing acquisition opportunities in the consumer goods packaging market and may incur additional indebtedness, including indebtedness under our Credit Agreement, to finance any such acquisitions and to fund any resulting increased operating needs. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the related risks we now face could increase. We will have to effect any new financing in compliance with the agreements governing our then existing indebtedness. In 2011, we funded the purchase price for our acquisition of VN through Euro denominated revolving loans under our 2010 Credit Facility, which revolving loans were subsequently refinanced through Euro denominated term loans under our Credit Agreement.

THE TERMS OF OUR DEBT INSTRUMENTS RESTRICT THE MANNER IN WHICH WE CONDUCT OUR BUSINESS AND MAY LIMIT OUR ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT ELEMENTS OF OUR GROWTH STRATEGY.

The instruments and agreements governing our indebtedness contain numerous covenants, including financial and operating covenants, some of which are quite restrictive. These covenants affect, and in many respects limit, among other things, our ability to:

These covenants could restrict us in the pursuit of our growth strategy.

GLOBAL ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, DISRUPTIONS IN THE CREDIT MARKETS AND THE INSTABILITY OF THE EURO COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR BUSINESS, FINANCIAL CONDITION OR RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

Recently, the global financial markets have experienced substantial disruption, including, among other things, extreme volatility in securities prices, severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, rating downgrades of certain investments and declining valuations of others, and the global economy has experienced a recession. In addition, credit and sovereign debt issues recently have destabilized certain European economies and thereby increased global economic uncertainties. If such economic conditions, disruption of global financial markets and tightening of credit in the financial markets were to continue, then, among other risks we face, our ability to refinance our indebtedness or obtain additional financing in the future, including, if necessary, to fund acquisitions, may be adversely affected. In addition, any such financing that we may obtain may be on terms that are more restrictive than the current terms of our indebtedness and may be at interest rates higher than the current interest rates for our indebtedness. These events could negatively affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additionally, any such financing would have to be effected in compliance with the agreements governing our then existing indebtedness. Under such circumstances, any approval that may be required under our then existing indebtedness for any such additional financing may require us to agree to more restrictive terms and/or higher interest rates for our then existing indebtedness.

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Economic conditions and disruptions in the credit markets could also harm the liquidity or financial position of our customers or suppliers, which could in turn cause such parties to fail to meet their contractual or other obligations to us or reduce our customers’ purchases from us, any of which could negatively affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additionally, under such circumstances, the creditworthiness of the counterparties to our interest rate and commodity pricing transactions could deteriorate, thereby increasing the risk that such counterparties fail to meet their contractual obligations to us.

Additionally, there is concern regarding the overall stability of the Euro and the future of the Euro as a single currency given the diverse economic and political circumstances in individual Eurozone countries. Potential negative developments (such as a Eurozone country in which we operate replacing the Euro with its own currency) and market perceptions related to the Euro could adversely affect the value of our Euro-denominated assets, reduce the amount of our translated amounts of U.S. dollar revenue and income from operations, negatively impact our indebtedness in any such Eurozone country (including our ability to refinance such indebtedness) and otherwise negatively affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

WE FACE COMPETITION FROM MANY COMPANIES AND WE MAY LOSE SALES OR EXPERIENCE LOWER MARGINS ON SALES AS A RESULT OF SUCH COMPETITION.

The manufacture and sale of metal and plastic containers and closures is highly competitive. We compete with other manufacturers of metal and plastic containers and closures and manufacturers of alternative packaging products, as well as packaged goods companies who manufacture containers and closures for their own use and for sale to others. We compete primarily on the basis of price, quality and service. To the extent that any of our competitors is able to offer better prices, quality and/or services, we could lose customers and our sales and margins may decline.

Approximately 90 percent of our North American metal container sales, a majority of sales of our domestic closures operations and a majority of sales of our plastic container business in 2011 were pursuant to multi-year supply arrangements. In general, many of these arrangements provide that during the term the customer may receive competitive proposals for all or up to a portion of the products we furnish to the customer. We have the right to retain the business subject to the terms and conditions of the competitive proposal.

If we match a competitive proposal, it may result in reduced sales prices for the products that are the subject of the proposal. If we choose not to match a competitive proposal, we may lose the sales that were the subject of the proposal.

DEMAND FOR OUR PRODUCTS COULD BE AFFECTED BY CHANGES IN LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO FOOD AND BEVERAGES AND CHANGES IN CONSUMER PREFERENCES.

We manufacture and sell metal and plastic rigid packaging for consumer goods products. Many of our products are used to package food and beverages, and therefore they come into direct contact with these products. Accordingly, such products must comply with various laws and regulations for food and beverages applicable to our customers. Changes in such laws and regulations could negatively impact our customers’ demand for our products as they comply with such changes and/or require us to make changes to our products. Such changes to our products could include modifications to the coatings and compounds that we use, possibly resulting in the incurrence by us of additional costs. Additionally, because our products are used to package consumer goods, we are subject to a variety of risks that could influence consumer behavior and negatively impact demand for our products, including changes in consumer preferences driven by various health-related concerns and perceptions.

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OUR FINANCIAL RESULTS COULD BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED IF WE ARE NOT ABLE TO OBTAIN SUFFICIENT QUANTITIES OF RAW MATERIALS OR MAINTAIN OUR ABILITY TO PASS RAW MATERIAL PRICE INCREASES THROUGH TO OUR CUSTOMERS.

We purchase steel, aluminum, plastic resins and other raw materials from various suppliers. Sufficient quantities of these raw materials may not be available in the future, whether due to reductions in capacity because of, among other things, significant consolidation of suppliers, increased demand in excess of available supply, unforeseen events such as significant hurricanes or other reasons. In addition, such materials are subject to price fluctuations due to a number of factors, including increases in demand for the same raw materials, the availability of other substitute materials and general economic conditions that are beyond our control.

Over the last few years, there has been significant consolidation of suppliers of steel. Additionally, tariffs and court cases in the United States have negatively impacted the ability and desire of certain foreign steel suppliers to competitively supply steel in the United States. In recent years, the steel industry has announced significant price increases for steel. Our metal container and metal closures supply arrangements with our customers in the United States provide for the pass through of changes in our metal costs in accordance with such arrangements. For our non-contract customers in the United States, we also generally increase prices to pass through increases in our metal costs. In Europe, our metal container and metal closures operations have had long-term relationships with many of their customers and we generally increase prices to pass through increases in our metal costs, although, as is common practice, supply arrangements are negotiated on a year-by-year basis.

Our resin requirements are acquired through multi-year arrangements for specific quantities of resins with several major suppliers of resins. The prices that we pay for resins are not fixed and are subject to market pricing, which has fluctuated significantly in the past few years. Our plastic container and plastic closures supply arrangements with our customers in North America provide for the pass through of changes in resin prices in accordance with such arrangements, subject in most cases to a lag in the timing of such pass through. For non-contract customers, we also generally pass through changes in resin prices.

Although no assurances can be given, we expect to be able to purchase sufficient quantities of raw materials to timely meet all of our customers’ requirements in 2012. Additionally, although no assurances can be given, we generally have been able to pass raw material price increases through to our customers. The loss of our ability to pass those price increases through to our customers or the inability of our suppliers to meet our raw material requirements, however, could have a materially adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

A SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER THAN NORMAL CROP YIELD MAY REDUCE DEMAND FOR OUR METAL CONTAINERS AND CLOSURES FOR FOOD PRODUCTS.

Our metal container business’ sales and income from operations are dependent, in part, upon the vegetable and fruit harvests in the midwest and western regions of the United States and, to a lesser extent, in a variety of national growing regions in Europe. Our closures business is also dependent, in part, upon the vegetable and fruit harvests. The size and quality of these harvests varies from year to year, depending in large part upon the weather conditions in applicable regions, and our results of operations could be impacted accordingly. Our sales, income from operations and net income could be materially adversely affected in a year in which crop yields are substantially lower than normal.

THE SEASONALITY OF THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PACKING INDUSTRY CAUSES US TO INCUR SHORT-TERM DEBT.

We sell metal containers and closures used in the fruit and vegetable packing process which is a seasonal industry. As a result, we have historically generated a disproportionate amount of our annual

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income from operations in our third quarter. Additionally, as is common in the packaging industry, we must access working capital to build inventory ahead of the fruit and vegetable packing process. We also provide extended payment terms to some of our customers due to the seasonality of the fruit and vegetable packing process and, accordingly, carry accounts receivable for some customers beyond the end of the packing season. Due to our seasonal requirements, we may incur short-term indebtedness to finance our working capital requirements.

THE COST OF PRODUCING OUR PRODUCTS MAY BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY INCREASES TO THE PRICE OF ENERGY.

The cost of producing our products is sensitive to our energy costs such as natural gas and electricity. We have, from time to time, entered into contracts to hedge a portion of our natural gas costs. Energy prices, in particular oil and natural gas, have increased in recent years, with a corresponding effect on our production costs.

WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PURSUE OUR GROWTH STRATEGY BY ACQUISITION.

Historically, we have grown predominantly through acquisitions. Our future growth will depend in large part on additional acquisitions of consumer goods packaging businesses. We may not be able to locate or acquire other suitable acquisition candidates consistent with our strategy, and we may not be able to fund future acquisitions because of limitations under our indebtedness or otherwise, including due to the limited availability of funds if the financial markets are impaired.

FUTURE ACQUISITIONS MAY CREATE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES THAT COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR OPERATING RESULTS AND DIVERT OUR MANAGEMENT’S ATTENTION.

In pursuing our strategy of growth through acquisitions, we will face risks commonly encountered with an acquisition strategy. These risks include:

Through our experience integrating our acquisitions, we have learned that, depending upon the size of the acquisition, it can take us up to two to three years to completely integrate an acquired business into our operations and systems and realize the full benefit of the integration. During the early part of this integration period, the operating results of an acquired business may decrease from results attained prior to the acquisition due to costs, delays or other problems in integrating the acquired business. Moreover, additional indebtedness incurred to fund acquisitions could adversely affect our liquidity and financial stability.

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IF WE ARE UNABLE TO RETAIN KEY MANAGEMENT, WE MAY BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED.

We believe that our future success depends, in large part, on our experienced management team. Losing the services of key members of our current management team could make it difficult for us to manage our business and meet our objectives.

PROLONGED WORK STOPPAGES AT OUR FACILITIES WITH UNIONIZED LABOR COULD JEOPARDIZE OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION.

As of December 31, 2011, we employed approximately 6,400 hourly employees on a full-time basis. Approximately 47 percent of our hourly plant employees in the United States and Canada as of that date were represented by a variety of unions, and most of our hourly employees in Europe, Asia and South America were represented by a variety of unions or other labor organizations. Our labor contracts expire at various times between 2012 and 2015. We cannot assure you that, upon expiration of existing collective bargaining agreements, new agreements will be reached without union action or that any such new agreements will be on terms no less favorable than current agreements. Prolonged work stoppages at our facilities could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

WE ARE SUBJECT TO COSTS AND LIABILITIES RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH AND SAFETY LAWS AND REGULATIONS.

We continually review our compliance with environmental and other laws, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act and other laws regulating noise exposure levels and other safety and health concerns in the production areas of our plants in the United States and environmental protection, health and safety laws and regulations abroad. We may incur liabilities for noncompliance, or substantial expenditures to achieve compliance, with environmental and other laws or changes thereto in the future or as a result of the application of additional laws and regulations to our business, including those limiting greenhouse gas emissions and those requiring compliance with the European Commission’s registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals (REACH) procedures. In addition, stricter regulations, or stricter interpretations of existing laws or regulations, may impose new liabilities on us, and we may become obligated in the future to incur costs associated with the investigation and/or remediation of contamination at our facilities or other locations. Additionally, many of our products come into contact with the food and beverages that they package, and therefore we may be subject to risks and liabilities related to health and safety matters in connection with our products. Changes in or additional health and safety laws and regulations in connection with our products may also impose new requirements and costs on us. Such requirements, liabilities and costs could have a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures, results of operations, financial condition or competitive position.

OUR INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO VARIOUS RISKS THAT MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR FINANCIAL RESULTS.

Our international operations generated approximately $741.9 million, or approximately 21 percent, of our consolidated net sales in 2011, of which approximately $343.7 million was generated by our closures operations in Europe, Asia and South America and approximately $269.4 million was generated by VN in Central and Eastern Europe. As of February 1, 2012, we have a total of 24 manufacturing facilities in a total of 16 countries in Europe, Asia and South America, serving customers in over 90 countries worldwide, including several new manufacturing facilities in developing Eastern countries for our metal container business which are scheduled to become operational in the near term. Our business strategy may include continued expansion of international activities. Accordingly, the risks associated with operating in foreign countries, including countries located in Europe, Asia and South America, may have a negative impact on our liquidity and net income. Risks associated with operating in foreign countries include, but are not limited to:

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WE ARE SUBJECT TO THE EFFECTS OF FLUCTUATIONS IN FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES.

Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. As a result of our international operations, a portion of our consolidated net sales, and some of our costs, assets and liabilities, are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. As a result, we must translate local currency financial results into U.S. dollars based on average exchange rates prevailing during a reporting period for the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. Consequently, changes in exchange rates may unpredictably and adversely affect our consolidated operating results. For example, during times of a strengthening U.S. dollar, our reported international revenue and earnings will be reduced because the local currency will translate into fewer U.S. dollars. Conversely, a weakening U.S. dollar will effectively increase the dollar-equivalent of our expenses denominated in foreign currencies. Our exposure to the effects of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates increased in 2011 with the consummation of our acquisition of VN. Although we may use currency exchange rate protection agreements from time to time to reduce our exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations in some cases, these hedges may not eliminate or reduce the effect of currency fluctuations.

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IF THE INVESTMENTS IN OUR PENSION BENEFIT PLANS DO NOT PERFORM AS EXPECTED, WE MAY HAVE TO CONTRIBUTE ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS TO THESE PLANS, WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE BE AVAILABLE TO COVER OPERATING AND OTHER EXPENSES.

We maintain noncontributory, defined benefit pension plans covering a substantial number of our employees, which we fund based on certain actuarial assumptions. The plans’ assets consist primarily of common stocks and fixed income securities. If the investments of the plans do not perform at expected levels, then we will have to contribute additional funds to ensure that the plans will be able to pay out benefits as scheduled. Such an increase in funding could result in a decrease in our available cash flow.

IF WE WERE REQUIRED TO WRITE-DOWN ALL OR PART OF OUR GOODWILL OR TRADE NAMES, OUR NET INCOME AND NET WORTH COULD BE MATERIALLY ADVERSELY AFFECTED.

As a result of our acquisitions, we have $389.9 million of goodwill and $32.1 million of indefinite-lived trade names recorded on our consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2011. We are required to periodically determine if our goodwill and trade names have become impaired, in which case we would write-down the impaired portion. If we were required to write-down all or part of our goodwill or trade names, our net income and net worth could be materially adversely affected.

OUR PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL INFLUENCE OVER US AND THEIR EXERCISE OF THAT INFLUENCE COULD BE ADVERSE TO YOUR INTERESTS.

As of December 31, 2011, Messrs. Silver and Horrigan beneficially owned an aggregate of 20,185,624 shares of our common stock, or approximately 29 percent of our outstanding common stock. Accordingly, if they act together, they will be able to exercise substantial influence over all matters submitted to the stockholders for a vote, including the election of directors. In addition, we and Messrs. Silver and Horrigan have entered into an amended and restated principal stockholders agreement, or the Stockholders Agreement, that provides for certain director nomination rights. Under the Stockholders Agreement, the Group (as defined in the Stockholders Agreement) has the right to nominate for election all of our directors until the Group holds less than one-half of the number of shares of our common stock held by it in the aggregate on February 14, 1997. The Group generally includes Messrs. Silver and Horrigan and their affiliates and related family transferees and estates. At least one of the Group’s nominees must be either Mr. Silver or Mr. Horrigan. On February 14, 1997, the Group held 28,612,360 shares of our common stock in the aggregate (as adjusted for our two-for-one stock splits in 2005 and 2010). Additionally, the Group has the right to nominate for election either Mr. Silver or Mr. Horrigan as a member of our Board of Directors when the Group no longer holds at least one-half of the number of shares of our common stock held by it in the aggregate on February 14, 1997 but beneficially owns 5 percent of our common stock. The Stockholders Agreement continues until the death or disability of both of Messrs. Silver and Horrigan. The provisions of the Stockholders Agreement could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of Silgan Holdings Inc. and preventing our stockholders from receiving a premium for their shares of our common stock in any proposed acquisition of Silgan Holdings Inc.

ANTI-TAKEOVER PROVISIONS IN OUR AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION AND OUR AMENDED AND RESTATED BY-LAWS COULD HAVE THE EFFECT OF DISCOURAGING, DELAYING OR PREVENTING A MERGER OR ACQUISITION. ANY OF THESE EFFECTS COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT THE MARKET PRICE OF OUR COMMON STOCK.

Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated by-laws may have the effect of delaying or preventing transactions involving a change of control of Silgan Holdings Inc., including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a substantial premium for their shares over then current market prices, and may limit the ability of stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests.

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In particular, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that:

Additionally, our amended and restated by-laws provide that a special meeting of the stockholders may only be called by either of our Co-Chairmen of the Board on their own initiative or at the request of a majority of the Board of Directors, and may not be called by the holders of common stock.

UPON THE OCCURRENCE OF CERTAIN CHANGE OF CONTROL EVENTS, WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SATISFY ALL OF OUR OBLIGATIONS UNDER OUR CREDIT AGREEMENT AND INDENTURE.

Under our Credit Agreement, the occurrence of a change of control (as defined in our Credit Agreement) constitutes an event of default, permitting, among other things, the acceleration of amounts owed thereunder. Additionally, upon the occurrence of a change of control as defined in the indenture governing the 7 ¹/4% Senior Notes due 2016, or the 7 ¹/4% Notes, we must make an offer to repurchase the 7 ¹/4% Notes at a purchase price equal to 101% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued interest to the date of purchase. We may not have sufficient funds or be able to obtain sufficient financing to meet such obligations under our Credit Agreement and such indenture.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.

Our principal executive offices are located at 4 Landmark Square, Suite 400, Stamford, Connecticut 06901. The administrative headquarters and principal places of business for our metal container business are located at 21800 Oxnard Street, Woodland Hills, California 91367 and Landskrongasse 5/1, 1010 Vienna, Austria; the administrative headquarters and principal places of business for our closures business are located at 1140 31^st Street, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515 and Hansastrasse 4, 30419 Hannover, Germany; and the administrative headquarters and principal place of business for our plastic container business is located at 14515 N. Outer Forty, Chesterfield, Missouri 63017. We lease all of these offices.

We own and lease properties for use in the ordinary course of business. The properties consist primarily of 44 operating facilities for the metal container business, 16 operating facilities for the closures business and 22 operating facilities for the plastic container business. We own 46 of these facilities and lease 36. The leases expire at various times through 2020. Some of these leases provide renewal options as well as various purchase options.

Below is a list of our operating facilities, including attached warehouses, as of February 1, 2012 for our metal container business:

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Below is a list of our operating facilities, including attached warehouses, as of February 1, 2012 for our closures business:

Below is a list of our operating facilities, including attached warehouses, as of February 1, 2012 for our plastic container business:

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We lease our research facilities in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, Downers Grove, Illinois, Hannover, Germany and Norcross, Georgia. We also own and lease other warehouse facilities that are detached from our manufacturing facilities. Additionally, we sublease other facilities that we previously operated.

We believe that our plants, warehouses and other facilities are in good operating condition, adequately maintained, and suitable to meet our present needs and future plans. We believe that we have sufficient capacity to satisfy the demand for our products in the foreseeable future. To the extent that we need additional capacity, we believe that we can convert certain facilities to continuous operation or make the appropriate capital expenditures to increase capacity.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

We are a party to routine legal proceedings, contract disputes and claims arising in the ordinary course of our business. We are not a party to, and none of our properties are subject to, any pending legal proceedings which could have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not applicable.

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PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

Our common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market System under the symbol SLGN. As of January 31, 2012, we had 44 holders of record of our common stock.

On March 29, 2010, our Board of Directors declared a two-for-one stock split of our issued common stock, which was effected in the form of a stock dividend. Our stockholders of record at the close of business on April 20, 2010 were issued one additional share of our common stock for each share of our common stock held by them on that date. Such additional shares were issued on May 3, 2010.

We began paying quarterly cash dividends on our common stock in 2004, and have increased the amount of the quarterly cash dividend payable on our common stock each year since then. In February 2011, our Board of Directors increased the amount of our quarterly cash dividend payable on our common stock from $0.105 per share (which amount has been retroactively adjusted for the two-for-one stock split that occurred on May 3, 2010) to $0.11 per share. In February 2012, our Board of Directors increased the amount of our quarterly cash dividend payable on our common stock to $0.12 per share. The payment of future dividends is at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be dependent upon our consolidated results of operations and financial condition, federal tax policies and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors. Additionally, we are allowed to pay cash dividends on our common stock up to specified limits under our Credit Agreement and our indenture for the 7 ¹/4% Notes. Such limits are materially higher than our current dividend amount.

The table below sets forth the high and low closing sales prices of our common stock as reported by the Nasdaq Global Select Market System for the periods indicated below and the cash dividends paid per share of our common stock in the periods indicated below. Closing sales prices and cash dividends per share for the first and second quarters of 2010 have been retroactively adjusted for the two-for-one stock split of our common stock that occurred on May 3, 2010.

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

On August 5, 2011, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $300 million of our common stock, inclusive of prior authorizations, from time to time through and including December 31, 2014, pursuant to which we repurchased $15.8 million of our common stock in the third quarter of 2011. We did not purchase any of our equity securities during the fourth quarter of 2011.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.

In the table that follows, we provide you with selected financial data of Silgan Holdings Inc. We have derived this data from our consolidated financial statements for the five years ended December 31, 2011. Our consolidated financial statements for the five years ended December 31, 2011 have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm.

You should read this selected financial data along with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report, as well as the section of this Annual Report titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Selected Financial Data

(continued)             

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Selected Financial Data

Notes to Selected Financial Data

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

The following discussion and analysis is intended to assist you in understanding our consolidated financial condition and results of operations for the three-year period ended December 31, 2011. Our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report contain detailed information that you should refer to in conjunction with the following discussion and analysis.

GENERAL

We are a leading manufacturer of rigid packaging for consumer goods products. We currently produce steel and aluminum containers for human and pet food and general line products; metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products and plastic closures for the dairy and juice markets; and custom designed plastic containers, tubes and closures for personal care, health care, pharmaceutical, household and industrial chemical, food, pet care, agricultural chemical, automotive and marine chemical products. We are a leading manufacturer of metal containers in North America and Europe, the largest manufacturer of metal food containers in North America with a unit volume market share for the year ended December 31, 2011 of approximately half of the market in the United States, a leading worldwide manufacturer of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products and a leading manufacturer of plastic containers in North America for a variety of markets, including the personal care, health care, household and industrial chemical and food markets.

Our objective is to increase shareholder value by efficiently deploying capital and management resources to grow our business, reduce operating costs, build sustainable competitive positions, or franchises, and to complete acquisitions that generate attractive cash returns. We have grown our net sales and income from operations largely through acquisitions but also through internal growth, and we continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities in the consumer goods packaging market.

SALES GROWTH

We have increased net sales and market share in our metal container, closures and plastic container businesses through both acquisitions and internal growth. As a result, we have expanded and diversified our customer base, geographic presence and product lines.

In 2011, we expanded our metal container business into Central and Eastern Europe with our acquisition of VN. As a result, we are now a leading manufacturer of metal containers in North America and Europe. Through VN, we are further expanding into developing Eastern countries, with several new locations expected to become operational there in the near term. With this acquisition, our metal containers segment now includes the operations formerly designated as metal food containers and the VN operations.

During the past twenty-five years, the metal food container market has experienced significant consolidation primarily due to the desire by food processors to reduce costs and focus resources on their core operations rather than self-manufacture their metal food containers. Our acquisitions of the metal food container manufacturing operations of Nestlé, Dial, Del Monte, Birds Eye, Campbell, Pacific Coast and, most recently, Purina Steel Can reflect this trend. We estimate that approximately five percent of the market for metal food containers in the United States is still served by self-manufacturers. In addition, the metal food container market in North America has been relatively flat during this period, despite losing market share as a result of more dining out, fresh produce and competing materials. However, we increased our share of the market for metal food containers in the United States primarily through acquisitions, and we have enhanced our business by focusing on providing customers with high levels of quality and service and value-added features such as our Quick Top^® easy-open ends, shaped metal food containers and

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alternative color offerings for metal food containers. We anticipate that the market will be relatively flat in the future, but will continue to increase in areas of consumer convenience products such as single-serve sizes and easy-open ends. In 2011, approximately 65 percent of our metal food containers sold had a Quick Top^® easy-open end.

With our acquisitions of our closures operations in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, we established ourselves as a leading worldwide manufacturer of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products, with leadership positions in the North American and European markets. In 2010, we broadened our closures business through our acquisition of IPEC which manufactures plastic closures primarily for the North American dairy and juice markets. We may pursue further consolidation opportunities in the closures markets in which we operate. Additionally, we expect to continue to generate internal growth in our closures business, particularly in plastic vacuum closures.

We have improved the market position of our plastic container business since 1987, with net sales increasing almost sevenfold to $609.9 million in 2011. We achieved this improved market position primarily through strategic acquisitions as well as through internal growth. The plastic container market of the consumer goods packaging industry is highly fragmented, with growth rates in excess of population expansion due to substitution of plastic for other materials. We have focused on the segment of this market where custom design and decoration allows customers to differentiate their products such as in personal care. We intend to pursue further acquisition opportunities in markets where we believe that we can successfully apply our acquisition and value-added operating expertise and strategy.

OPERATING PERFORMANCE

We operate in a competitive industry where it is necessary to realize cost reduction opportunities to offset continued competitive pricing pressure. We have improved the operating performance of our plant facilities through the investment of capital for productivity improvements and manufacturing cost reductions. Our acquisitions have enabled us to rationalize plant operations and decrease overhead costs through plant closings and downsizings and to realize manufacturing efficiencies as a result of optimizing production scheduling. From 2007, we have closed three metal container manufacturing facilities, one closures manufacturing facility and two plastic container manufacturing facilities in connection with our continuing efforts to streamline our plant operations, reduce operating costs and better match supply with geographic demand. In addition, we have consolidated various positions in our corporate offices across all businesses to further enhance profitability. In furtherance of such efforts, in 2012 we announced plans to close an additional plastic container manufacturing facility, and we have implemented further workforce reductions in our closures business.

We have also invested substantial capital in the past several years for new market opportunities and value-added products such as new Quick Top^® easy-open ends for metal food containers, shaped metal food containers and alternative color offerings for metal food containers. In addition, we are making significant capital investments to expand VN into new developing Eastern countries. Over the past five years, we have invested $655.9 million in capital to invest in new market opportunities, maintain our market position, improve our productivity and reduce our manufacturing costs.

Historically, we have been successful in renewing our multi-year supply arrangements with our customers. We estimate that in 2012 approximately 90 percent of our projected North American metal container sales, a majority of our projected closures sales in the United States and a majority of our projected plastic container sales will be under multi-year arrangements.

Many of our multi-year customer supply arrangements generally provide for the pass through of changes in raw material, labor and other manufacturing costs, thereby significantly reducing the exposure

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of our results of operations to the volatility of these costs. In recent years, the steel industry announced significant price increases for steel. Under our supply arrangements in the United States, we were able to increase prices to pass through higher metal costs. For our non-contract domestic customers, we have also generally increased prices to pass through higher metal costs. In Europe, our businesses have had long-term relationships with many of their customers and we have generally increased prices to pass through higher metal costs, although, as is common practice, many supply arrangements are negotiated on a year-by-year basis. Resin prices have also fluctuated significantly in the past few years, and we have been able to pass through changes in resin costs in accordance with our supply arrangements.

Our metal container business’ sales and income from operations are dependent, in part, upon the vegetable and fruit harvests in the midwest and western regions of the United States and, to a lesser extent, in a variety of national growing regions in Europe. Our closures business is also dependent, in part, upon vegetable and fruit harvests. The size and quality of these harvests varies from year to year, depending in large part upon the weather conditions in applicable regions. Because of the seasonality of the harvests, we have historically experienced higher unit sales volume in the third quarter of our fiscal year and generated a disproportionate amount of our annual income from operations during that quarter. Additionally, as is common in the packaging industry, we provide extended payment terms to some of our customers in our metal container business due to the seasonality of the vegetable and fruit packing process.

USE OF CAPITAL

Historically, we have used leverage to support our growth and increase shareholder returns. Our stable and predictable cash flow, generated largely as a result of our long-term customer relationships and generally recession resistant business, supports our financial strategy. We intend to continue using reasonable leverage, supported by our stable cash flows, to make value enhancing acquisitions. In determining reasonable leverage, we evaluate our cost of capital and manage our level of debt to maintain an optimal cost of capital based on current market conditions. If acquisition opportunities are not identified over a longer period of time, we may use our cash flow to repay debt, repurchase shares of our common stock or increase dividends to our stockholders or for other permitted purposes. In 2010, we used a significant amount of cash on hand and borrowings under our 2010 Credit Facility to repurchase 7.1 million shares of our common stock for $247.0 million (excluding fees and expenses of $0.8 million) and to purchase IPEC. In March 2011, we funded the purchase price for VN with Euro denominated borrowings under our 2010 Credit Facility. In July 2011, we refinanced our 2010 Credit Facility with our new $1.9 billion Credit Agreement, which provides us with greater borrowing availability and greater flexibility for acquisitions, repurchases of stock and other strategic initiatives. In the third quarter of 2011, we funded repurchases of our common stock for $15.8 million and the purchase price for Purina Steel Can with cash on hand. As a result of incremental borrowings under our Credit Agreement and our operating cash flow, we ended 2011 with $397.1 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand. In addition, at December 31, 2011, we had $761.3 million and Cdn $10 million of revolving loans available to us under our Credit Agreement for working capital requirements and other strategic initiatives.

To the extent we utilize debt for acquisitions or other permitted purposes in future periods, our interest expense may increase. Further, since the revolving loan and term loan borrowings under our Credit Agreement bear interest at floating rates, our interest expense is sensitive to changes in prevailing rates of interest and, accordingly, our interest expense may vary from period to period. After taking into account interest rate swap agreements that we entered into to mitigate the effect of interest rate fluctuations, at December 31, 2011 we had $984.9 million of indebtedness, or 72 percent of our total outstanding indebtedness, which bore interest at floating rates. You should read Note 9 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2011 included elsewhere in this Annual Report for information regarding our interest rate swap agreements.

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In light of our strategy to use leverage to support our growth and optimize shareholder returns, we have incurred and will continue to incur significant interest expense. For 2011, 2010 and 2009, our aggregate interest and other debt expense before loss on early extinguishment of debt as a percentage of our income from operations was 17.8 percent, 19.1 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following table sets forth certain income statement data expressed as a percentage of net sales for each of the periods presented. You should read this table in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2011 and the accompanying notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Summary results for our business segments for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 are provided below.