5. Equity Investments

At December 31, 2018 the Company’s ownership percentage in affiliates include:


	O-I Ownership
Affiliates	Percentage		Business Type
Empresas Comegua S.A.	49.7	%	Glass container manufacturer
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:


	2018		2017		2016
Equity in earnings:
Non-U.S.	$	52	$	45	$	19
U.S.		25		32		41
Total	$	77	$	77	$	60
Dividends received	$	72	$	48	$	38

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


	2018		2017
At end of year:
Current assets	$	655	$	466
Non-current assets		1,306		1,021
Total assets		1,961		1,487
Current liabilities		342		232
Other liabilities and deferred items		242		198
Total liabilities and deferred items		584		430
Net assets	$	1,377	$	1,057


For the year:	2018		2017		2016
Net sales	$	972	$	883	$	755
Gross profit	$	234	$	242	$	182
Net earnings	$	184	$	165	$	145

Based on an evaluation of each of the Company’s equity investments for the three years ending December 31, 2018, 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 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Company made purchases of approximately $255 million and $180 million from equity affiliates in 2018 and 2017, respectively, and owed approximately $111 million and $90 million to equity affiliates as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

There is a difference of approximately $9 million as of December 31, 2018, 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.