Owens-Illinois Appoints Helge H. Wehmeier to Board of Directors

TOLEDO, Ohio, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owens-Illinois, Inc., today announced that Helge H. Wehmeier has been appointed to serve on the Company's Board of Directors effective January 25.

Mr. Wehmeier will serve on the Audit Committee and Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee of the Board. He was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Michael W. Michelson whose term will expire May 2006.

From 2002-2004, Mr. Wehmeier served as vice chairman of Bayer Corporation, the $11 billion US-based subsidiary of Bayer AG of Germany, a $27 billion international life sciences, polymers and specialty chemicals group. In 2002, after more than 35 years with Bayer, he retired as president and chief executive officer of Bayer Corp. after 11 years in that position. During his career, he served as general manager for the fibers business in the UK and as head of the Photo Division on the Board of the Bayer subsidiary Agfa-Gevaert AG. In 1989, he was elected to the board of directors and executive committee of Bayer USA Inc. He is an alumnus of IMEDE, Lausanne, Switzerland, and INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

Mr. Wehmeier serves on the Board of Directors of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. and TEREX Corporation. He is an executive vice president and member of the Board of Directors for the Pittsburgh Symphony Society and also serves on the Board of the American Council on Germany and the Advisory Board of the Curtis Institute of Music.

"I am very pleased to welcome Helge to the O-I Board," said Steve McCracken, O-I chairman and chief executive officer. "Not only does his business leadership experience make him a great addition to our team, but Helge's international and healthcare background will provide expertise consistent with, and additive to, our new portfolio alignment."

About O-I

Owens-Illinois is the largest manufacturer of glass containers in the world, with leading positions in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America. O-I is also a leading manufacturer of healthcare packaging and specialty closure systems.