EUROPE – Pulp and paper producer Sappi has announced that the intended sale to Aurelius Group of its three mills in Europe has not materialized within the agreed timeframe of the contractual agreement and therefore the agreement has lapsed.
The agreement covered its Maastricht Mill in the Netherlands, its Stockstadt Mill in Germany and its Kirkniemi Mill in Finland.
The parties were unable to agree to satisfy the conditions precedent and therefore the agreement lapsed, Sappi said.
As part of the previous process, Sappi said that it had received binding offers from “several” parties for the mills.
The deal was described as a “complex carve-out” at the time and was subject to various conditions including approvals from the competition and regulatory authorities.
Steve Binnie, CEO of Sappi Limited commented: “Regretfully, and despite extensive efforts by Sappi to close the transaction the parties could not agree on fulfilling the suspensive conditions. The transaction has lapsed.
“Sappi’s strategic focus remains unchanged. This includes reducing exposure to the graphic paper segment while expanding Sappi’s presence in segments including packaging and speciality papers, pulp and biomaterials.”
Marco Eikelenboom, CEO of Sappi Europe stated: “Sappi Europe will continue to manage the three mills as part of our overall portfolio, ensuring that they continue delivering value to the region and to the customers they supply.”
The enterprise value of the Aurelius deal had been approximately US$264.91 million at the time. Aurelius had expected the mills to deliver sales of more than €1bn.
Aurelius has just completed its deal to acquire ECO3, the former Agfa Offset Solutions business.
Regarding the Sappi deal, an Aurelius spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, due to changing external circumstances, the transaction could not be finalized.”
Sappi Maastricht Mill produces 260,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of coated woodfree paper and paperboard mainly sold to printers and packaging converters globally.
Meanwhile, its Stockstadt Mill is an integrated pulp and paper mill located in Germany, producing 145,000 tpa of pulp which is used to produce 220,000 tpa of coated and uncoated woodfree paper mainly sold into the European print market.
Further, the Kirkniemi Mill is an integrated pulp and paper mill located in Finland, producing 300,000 tpa of bleached mechanical pulp which is used to produce approximately 750 000 tpa of a variety of coated mechanical paper grades used in the print publication industry globally.
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