West Pharmaceuticals to Consolidate Certain Operations

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. WST, today announced its intention to consolidate selected operations in order to improve operating efficiencies. The Company expects to close its Montgomery, Pennsylvania, USA manufacturing facility and to downsize operations at its facility in St. Austell, Cornwall, U.K. The Pennsylvania facility has been engaged primarily in contract manufacturing of molded plastic components and assemblies for consumer-product applications. The Cornwall facility produces molded elastomeric components for disposable medical devices, as well as elastomeric and plastic components used in pharmaceutical packaging. Ancillary to the manufacturing changes West is also planning to eliminate a limited number of other operational and administrative roles. The costs of the restructuring are expected to be between $18 million and $21 million. When fully implemented, the changes are expected to reduce annual operating costs by approximately $12 million.