Shares in Rexam were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the packaging company announced the sale of its Closures business to Berry Plastics for $360 million.

Rexam's Closures business employs around 1,500 people and focuses mainly on North America. The business made a pre-tax loss of £177 million last year and had gross assets of £280 million and liabilities of £50 million at the end of 2010.

The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year and is subject to regulatory approval.

Following the deal Rexam said it plans to right-size its Plastic Packaging operations, a move that result in an exceptional charge of approximately £25 million.

In addition the sale will be used to cut Rexam's net debt.

By 08:15 shares in Rexam were down 0.64 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 375.20 pence per share.