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MERGERS: STORA ENSO BUYS CONSOL PAPERS

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI — Finnish-Swedish forestry group Stora Enso plans to buy American-based Consolidated Papers Inc. for $4.8 billion (all figures in US dollars), and take on assumed debt of $0.9 billion. In the deal, Stora will pay Consolidated shareholders the equivalent $44-a-share, about 69% above Consolidated’s last closing price of $26-a-share. The merged entity will have a combined paper and board capacity of about 15 Mt/y, making it the world’s largest paper and board producer. Both Stora and Consolidated are market leaders in lightweight coated and SC paper. The new company plans to save about $110 million by December 2002, mainly through the elimination of duplicated services. Job cuts were not mentioned. The deal is subject to shareholder and the usual regulatory approvals, and it is expected to close by August 2000.