Equity Investments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

4. Equity Investments

At December 31, 2017 the Company’s ownership percentage in affiliates include:


	O-I Ownership
Affiliates	Percentage		Business Type
BJC O-I Glass Pte. Ltd.	50	%	Glass container manufacturer
CO Vidrieria SARL ("COV")	50	%	Glass container manufacturer
Rocky Mountain Bottle Company	50	%	Glass container manufacturer
Tata Chemical (Soda Ash) Partners	25	%	Soda ash supplier
Vetrerie Meridionali SpA ("VeMe")	50	%	Glass container manufacturer
Vetri Speciali SpA	50	%	Specialty glass manufacturer

Summarized information pertaining to the Company’s equity affiliates follows:


	2017		2016		2015
Equity in earnings:
Non-U.S.	$	45	$	19	$	23
U.S.		32		41		37
Total	$	77	$	60	$	60
Dividends received	$	48	$	38	$	53

Summarized combined financial information for equity affiliates is as follows (unaudited):


	2017		2016
At end of year:
Current assets	$	466	$	425
Non-current assets		1,021		779
Total assets		1,487		1,204
Current liabilities		232		190
Other liabilities and deferred items		198		145
Total liabilities and deferred items		430		335
Net assets	$	1,057	$	869


For the year:	2017		2016		2015
Net sales	$	883	$	755	$	719
Gross profit	$	242	$	182	$	193
Net earnings	$	165	$	145	$	139

Based on an evaluation of each of the Company’s equity investments for the three years ending December 31, 2017, no investments exceeded the significant subsidiary thresholds per Rule 3-09 of Regulation S-X. As such, separate financial statements for the Company’s equity investments are not required to be filed.

The Company made purchases of approximately $180 million and $176 million from equity affiliates in 2017 and 2016, respectively, and owed approximately $90 million and $76 million to equity affiliates as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

There is a difference of approximately $10 million as of December 31, 2017, between the amount at which certain investments are carried and the amount of underlying equity in net assets. The portion of the difference related to inventory or amortizable assets is amortized as a reduction of the equity earnings. The remaining difference is considered goodwill.