Stora Enso has signed an agreement to divest its shares in Advance Agro
Stora Enso Oyj Stock Exchange Release 18 August 2005 at 12:00 GMT
Stora Enso has signed an agreement to divest its 18.8% ownership of
Advance Agro Public Company Limited of Thailand to private investors
based in Hong Kong for USD 80 (EUR 65) million. The transaction is
structured with instalment payments, the last of which is expected to be
received not later than the third quarter of 2006.
Enso Oyj acquired the minority shareholding in Advance Agro in 1998 in
order to develop business in Thailand. Since then the emphasis in Stora
Enso's fibre strategy has shifted to South America and China, which the
company has identified as two of the three main emerging strategy areas,
the third being Russia.
Singapore-based Imprimis (Singapore) Pte Ltd was Stora Enso's advisor in
the placement of the shares.
Stora Enso to merge its North American division into its global product
divisions
Stora Enso Oyj Press Release 30 August 2005 at 06:00 GMT
Stora Enso is merging its North American division into its global
product divisions in order to improve its operations with effect from 1
September 2005. The North American business areas will become part of
the global product divisions as follows:
Coated Magazine Paper, Uncoated Magazine Paper and Newsprint
will be integrated into Stora Enso Publication Paper
Fine Paper will be integrated into Stora Enso Fine Paper
Speciality Papers will be integrated into Stora Enso Packaging
Boards
North American marketing and sales will be integrated into Market
Services.
As a result, North American operations will no longer be regarded as a
division of the company and hence financial figures for the North
American operations will not be reported separately twice per year as is
the current practice. Also the fact that North American Profit
Enhancement Programme is reaching its end is contributing to this
change.
"These changes are consistent with our ongoing commitment to maintaining
our competitive position, presenting one interface to the customer and
creating opportunities for improving efficiency whilst facilitating
global growth. The business areas are being reorganised but the support
areas will continue to be locally led. This is consistent with our
strategy of thinking globally and acting locally," says Lars Bengtsson,
Senior Executive Vice President, Stora Enso North America.
Stora Enso Finalizes Acquisition of Schneidersöhne Group
Helsinki, Finland, 31 August 2005--/Stora Enso has finalized its previously
announced acquisition of 100% of the shares in the
German paper merchant Schneidersöhne Group. The all-cash acquisition was
completed following approval by regulatory and competition authorities. The
acquisition price on a debt-free basis was EUR 450 million. The synergies
will be achieved by optimizing the value chain from producer to end-user and
efficiently co-ordinating operations within Stora Enso's merchant business,
Papyrus.
The strategic aims of the acquisition are to bring Stora Enso closer to the
customer and end-user in the value chain and to improve the profitability of
Stora Enso's merchant business. Schneidersöhne will become part of Papyrus.
Through Papyrus, Stora Enso will gain full management control of the
company.
The acquisition of Schneidersöhne will have the following financial effects
on Stora Enso: earnings per share (EPS) and cash earnings per share (CEPS),
including full synergies of approximately EUR 15 million from 2008 onwards,
will be enhanced by EUR 0.02 and EUR 0.05 respectively. Stora Enso's
interest-bearing debt will increase by EUR 450 million, and its debt/equity
ratio will increase by 0.06.
"Close co-operation with expanding Papyrus will give us an even better
understanding of the requirements of printers and office paper users so we
can develop our products and services accordingly," said Pekka Laaksonen,
senior executive vice president, Stora Enso Fine Paper. "We will move closer
to the customer. We will gain synergies through more efficient co-operation
between Stora Enso's paper and board divisions and Papyrus," he said.
"Papyrus's strategy is to take the lead in developing the European merchant
business," said Mats Nordlander, president of Papyrus. "As a result of the
Schneidersöhne acquisition, we now have a strong market position, being the
second-largest in Europe, with good geographical coverage. We will further
improve our service by adding attractive products, widening our distribution
network and expanding our comprehensive e-business solutions to more
customers. We will simply help our customers to become more successful,"
Nordlander said.
Schneidersöhne is by sales volume the second-largest paper merchant in
Germany and the fifth-largest in Europe. It has operations in 11 countries,
the biggest markets being Germany and Switzerland. It has 38 branch offices,
including 20 in Germany. Schneidersöhne has 2100 employees and had net sales
of EUR 1130 million in 2004.