Korsnäs Packaging is Europe's second largest manufacturer of industrial paper sacks. It produces about 850 million paper sacks annually in high-quality production facilities in nine countries. In recent years Korsnäs Packaging has improved its profitability despite difficult market conditions in Western Europe and successfully capitalised on the significant growth in Eastern Europe.
Korsnäs Packaging has an annual turnover of approximately SEK 1,200 million and employs around 1,000 people.
Based in Karelia, Russia, privately owned Segezha is an integrated pulp, paper and packaging business. It is Russia's largest producer of sack paper and industrial paper sacks, with significant export of sack and kraft paper. The combination of Segezha's paper production capabilities with Korsnäs Packaging's pan-European market coverage provides an excellent industrial fit between the two companies.
The transaction creates a new No. 2 player in the global paper sack market, with an annual production of some 1.1 billion industrial paper sacks, combined with a sack paper capacity of about 300,000 tonnes. It also strengthens Segezha and Korsnäs Packaging's already strong position in the fast growing Eastern European, CIS and Russian markets and enables a more efficient utilisation of the production units.
The transaction is subject to approval by competition authorities and is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2006.
Alfred Berg ABN AMRO acted as financial advisor to Kinnevik.
For further information, please visit www.kinnevik.se or contact:
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Vigo Carlund, President & CEO |
+46 (0) 8 562 000 00 |
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Henrik Persson, Investor Relations |
+46 (0) 8 562 000 87 |
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+46 (0) 707 62 00 87 |
