Graphic Packaging Streamlines Label Business by Closing Site in St. Charles, Illinois


Marietta, Georgia, USA, 01 October 2008 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Graphic Packaging International, Inc., a subsidiary of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK), announced today that it plans to streamline its label business in the United States, and close the St. Charles label manufacturing facility, located in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, early in 2009.

The St. Charles label facility provides "cut and stack" paper labels to the food and healthcare industries. Label production will continue through year-end to fulfill customer orders and support the peak demand in the third and fourth quarters. The company plans to transition business from the St. Charles site during the first quarter of 2009. The company is providing appropriate notification and assistance to the approximately 100 hourly and salaried employees who will be affected by this closing.

"This is another strong step under our integration plan to optimize our manufacturing footprint and achieve the announced operating synergies of USD 90 million by 2010," said David W. Scheible, president and chief executive officer of Graphic Packaging International, Inc. "We believe this decision strengthens our ability to support growing regional markets from our most efficiently run label facilities, and will continue our aggressive earnings improvement in spite of the challenging operating environment."

Graphic Packaging International, Inc., a subsidiary of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK), headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, is a leading provider of paperboard packaging solutions for a wide variety of products to food, beverage, and other consumer products companies. The company is one of the largest producers of folding cartons and holds a leading market position in coated-recycled boxboard and specialty bag packaging. The company's customers include some of the most widely recognized companies in the world. Additional information about Graphic Packaging, its business, and its products is available at www.graphicpkg.com