UPM signs agreement on the sale of assets of UPM Stracel in France

(UPM, Helsinki, 24 January 2013 at 12:00 EET) ­­– UPM has signed an agreement on the sale of assets and part of the land of the UPM Stracel paper mill site with Blue Paper SAS, the joint venture company of VPK Packaging Group NV and Klingele Papierwerke.

The transaction is expected to be closed during March 2013 once all legal and administrative conditions will be fulfilled.

UPM stopped the production of coated magazine paper on the mill on 4^th January 2013.
Blue Paper SAS will convert the mill to produce recycled fibre-based fluting and test-liner. The production is expected to start after completing investments in September 2013. Blue Paper SAS will create 130 new jobs at the mill that will be offered to former Stracel employees.

The sale of Stracel was part of UPM’s plan to adjust its magazine paper and newsprint paper capacity to match the needs of its global customer base originally announced in August 2011.

For more information, please contact:
Jean-Marc Louvet, Director, French Projects, UPM, Tel. +33 607 421 115

UPM, Corporate Communications
Media Desk, tel. +358 40 588 3284
media@upm.com

Earlier releases related to the subject:

January 07, 2013: Coated magazine paper production ceased at UPM Stracel mill

July 03, 2012: UPM enters into exclusive negotiations for the sale of assets of the Stracel paper mill in Strasbourg, France

August 31, 2011: UPM plans to reduce 1.3 million tonnes of paper capacity in Europe

Note to the editors:

VPK Packaging Group NV is an integrated European packaging group with 33 companies spread across 12 European countries, realizing sales of 700 million €  and having a total of 3000 employees.

Klingele, a German family owned company since 1920, is one of the leading independent producers of containerboard and packaging made of corrugated board. The company consists of one paper mill, six integrated corrugated plants and seven converting plants in Europe and Africa, realizing sales of 340 mio € and having a total of 1’250 employees.

UPM Stracel
UPM Stracel paper mill manufactured coated magazine papers. The production was ceased in January 2013. Located in Eastern France the mill employs 250 people. The mill was founded in 1936.

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 23,000 people and it has production plants in 17 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com   

UPM Paper has 22 modern and sustainable paper mills in Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, China and the United States. Many of them are large recycling centres and bioenergy producers, as well as paper manufacturers. UPM Paper employs almost 13,000 people. In 2011, the business group’s net sales amounted to EUR 7.2 billion. To learn more, visit: www.upmpaper.com