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The NewPage acquisition of Stora Enso’s NA business is completed

MIAMISBURG, OH — NewPage Corporation announced the completion of the previously-announced acquisition of Stora Ens…

MIAMISBURG, OH — NewPage Corporation announced the completion of the previously-announced acquisition of Stora Enso Oyj’s North American paper manufacturing operations.
“NewPage, majority owned by Cerberus Capital Management, completed the $2.556 billion financing arranged by Goldman Sachs in one of the most difficult credit markets in memory,” said Mark A. Suwyn, NewPage Chairman and CEO. “This speaks well of the soundness of the business combination, the quality of the management team, and the strength of the support we’ve received from Cerberus and Goldman Sachs. This news is very exciting for the business. We’ve achieved regulatory approvals and other milestones more quickly than anticipated, and therefore were able to close ahead of schedule.”
The combined product portfolio is the broadest in North America. The new organization will have approximately $4.3 billion in pro forma net sales for the last twelve months ended September 30, 2007, and exceptional platforms in the company’s core businesses including coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, high-end advertising brochures, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, packaging applications and direct mail advertising.
“We have an excellent senior leadership team in place and are creating new opportunities for our employees to grow and succeed. We know there are many challenges ahead of us, but we believe we’re well positioned for success and look forward to making the company prosper and grow,” said Richard D. Willett, President and COO of NewPage. “With this combination and the powerful businesses it creates, NewPage has improved its ability to meet the needs of its customers with the high quality customer service and products they’ve come to expect from both companies. This should also enable us to deliver higher returns on investment and meet our return on capital goal. Our plan to achieve $265 million in annualized cost synergies is just the first step toward that goal.”
NewPage operates 12 paper mills with 26 paper machines located in Nova Scotia, as well as Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 5.5 million tons of paper, which includes 4.3 million tons of coated paper, 920,000 tons of uncoated paper, 300,000 tons of specialty paper, as well as 3.2 million tons of pulp. NewPage is now the largest manufacturer of coated paper in North America, based on capacity.

Source: PRNewswire