HELSINKI, Jan. 27,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Stora Enso has signed an
agreement to divest its paper production site in Hylte,
Sweden and all its related assets
to Sweden Timber, a Sweden-based
sawmill and planing mill company. The enterprise value is
approximately EUR 18 million. The
completion of the transaction is expected in the first half of
2023. Concerning the Anjala paper site in Finland, Stora Enso has decided to discontinue
the divestment process.
The Hylte site transaction, along with the discontinuation of
the Anjala divestment, concludes Stora Enso's plan announced in
March 2022 to divest four of Stora
Enso's five paper production sites. In line with its strategy,
Stora Enso's focus is on long-term growth for its renewable
products in packaging, building solutions and biomaterials
innovations.
"I am pleased that Sweden Timber will continue to serve Hylte's
paper customers with the intent to further develop the operations.
For the Anjala site, we have concluded that the benefits from
retaining the site within the Group exceed the value of explored
divestment opportunities," says Seppo
Parvi, CFO at Stora Enso.
The Hylte site's annual capacity is 245,000 tonnes of newsprint
paper. Based on the 2021 figures, the divestment is expected to
reduce Stora Enso's annual sales by approximately EUR 90 million. Subject to closing date
adjustments, Stora Enso will book a disposal loss of approximately
EUR 35 million, in addition to the
impairment loss of EUR 19 million
recorded in Q4/2022, in its IFRS operating profit in Q1/2023, as an
item affecting comparability. The transaction does not affect the
Packaging Solutions division's formed fiber and biocomposite
operations located at the Hylte site.
The Anjala paper site, together with the retained Langerbrugge
paper site in Belgium, were
integrated into the Packaging Materials division on 1 January 2023. The Anjala site already today
leverages integrated operations with Stora Enso's neighbouring
Ingerois packaging materials site, utilising synergies in raw
material and energy supply. For the Langerbrugge site, the ongoing
feasibility study for a potential conversion of one of the site's
two paper lines into a packaging materials line is expected to be
finalised in the first half of 2023.
The retained Anjala and Langerbrugge sites will continue paper
production and serving their respective customers. The agreement to
divest the Hylte paper site to Sweden Timber has no immediate
impact on production nor customer deliveries. The previously
disclosed agreement to divest the Maxau paper site in Germany to Schwartz Produktion is expected to
conclude at the beginning of this year. Divestment of the Nymölla
paper site in Sweden was concluded
on 2 January with ownership transferred to Sylvamo.
BofA Securities acted as Stora Enso's financial advisor on this
transaction.
About Sweden Timber
Sweden Timber is a Swedish-owned and growing wood industry
company. The company produces and sells high-quality wood products
to the construction industry and wood retailers, with customers in
several export markets. The business today consists of sawmills and
planing production sites in four Swedish locations, Malmbäck,
Hjortkvarn, Skillingaryd and Mora. www.swedentimber.se/.
Recent releases on Stora Enso's paper assets:
29 March 2022: Stora Enso plans to
divest four paper sites to focus on strategic growth
areas
7 June 2022: Stora Enso assesses
growth opportunities in recycled packaging materials with a
conversion in Langerbrugge
13 September 2022: Stora Enso has
signed an agreement to divest its Maxau paper site to Schwarz
Produktion
2 January 2023: Stora Enso completes
the divestment of its Nymölla paper site to Sylvamo
Part of the global bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading provider
of renewable products in packaging, biomaterials, wooden
construction and paper, and one of the largest private forest
owners in the world. We believe that everything that is made from
fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow.
Stora Enso has approximately 22,000 employees and our sales in 2021
were EUR 10.2 billion. Stora Enso
shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq
Stockholm AB (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in
the USA as ADRs (SEOAY).
storaenso.com/investors
STORA ENSO OYJ
For further information, please contact:
Carl Norell
Press officer
tel. +46 72 241 0349
Investor enquiries:
Anna-Lena Åström
SVP Investor Relations
Tel. +46 70 210 7691
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