Mergers & Acquisitions

Graphic Packaging Holding Company announced the conclusion of its successful partnership with International Paper Company. The final tranche of the membership interests held by International Paper in Graphic Packaging International Partners, LLC (the "Partnership") were exchanged for an equivalent number of shares of Graphic Packaging common stock. As a result, Graphic Packaging now owns 100% of the Partnership.

Dennis Schoeneck, the president of the Timber Professionals Cooperative, said the group has continued talking with Verso about a potential sale of the Rapids mill, although there hasn't been a deal on the table yet.

ST aims to convert the mill to produce tissue paper, instead of the supercalendered paper it has traditionally manufactured. ST Paper had been negotiating to purchase the mill and convert it to tissue paper production at an anticipated cost of about $54 million.

Glatfelter Corporation, a leading global supplier of engineered materials, announced it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Georgia-Pacific's U.S. nonwovens business for $175 million, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, a leading vertically-integrated provider of sustainable fiber-based consumer packaging solutions, and CVC Capital Partners Fund VI today announced a definitive agreement under which Graphic Packaging will acquire AR Packaging Group AB ("AR Packaging"), Europe's second largest producer of fiber-based consumer packaging, for approximately $1.45 billion in cash, subject to customary adjustments.

BTG Pactual announced that a consortium led by its Timberland Investment Group (TIG), along with British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of Canada's largest institutional investors, and APG, one of the world's largest pension providers, has agreed to acquire Chilean timberland assets from Arauco for US$ 385.5 million.

UPM has signed an agreement to sell its Shotton newsprint mill site in North Wales, United Kingdom and all related assets to Eren Paper Ltd, a subsidiary of Modern Karton Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.Ş., the containerboard and corrugated packaging business of the Turkish industrial conglomerate Eren Holding ("Eren").

Paper Excellence, a global diversified manufacturer of pulp and specialty, printing, writing, and packaging papers, and Domtar, a leading provider of fiber-based products, announced that they have entered into a strategic business combination under which the Paper Excellence group of companies will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Domtar common stock for $55.50 per share, in cash.

The Duluth City Council unanimously agreed Monday night to abate up to $600,000 in property taxes and offer a $242,000 forgivable loan to ST Paper to help the company complete an acquisition of Verso Corp.'s Duluth mill, which has been shuttered since last summer.

Rep. Scott Krug (R-Rome) and Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) have authored a bill to provide assistance in the purchase of the Verso paper mill in Wisconsin Rapids.

Weyerhaeuser Company announced the completion of its acquisition of 69,200 acres of high-quality Alabama timberlands from Soterra, a subsidiary of Greif, Inc., for approximately $149 million earlier this week. Separately, the company announced an agreement to sell 145,000 acres of timberlands in the North Cascades region of Washington to Hampton Resources for $266 million.

UFP Industries, Inc. announced that a wholly owned subsidiary of UFP Construction, LLC, has acquired the assets of Endurable Building Products, LLC.

Pending approval from the bankruptcy court, the former Ponderay Newsprint Mill will be reopened as a corrugated cardboard paper production facility, according to court filings sent from Chapter 7 Trustee John D. Munding. Allrise Capital had the winning bid, in the amount of $18,100,000.

Hygiene and health company Essity has signed an agreement today to acquire the remaining 25% of the shares in the Swedish medical solutions company ABIGO Medical AB. Essity acquired 75% of ABIGO Medical in February 2020.

Central National Gottesman Inc. (CNG) announced that its Kelly Spicers division has acquired California Supply North, a specialty packaging distributor that serves the Northern California region.

The proposed acquisition is expected to add approximately $200 million in sales, $30 million in Adjusted EBITDA and significant opportunities for paperboard integration upon completion.

Dennis Schoeneck, owner of Enterprise Forest Products in Pelican Lake, said his "business changed immediately on June 9, 2020″ when the Verso Mill in Wisconsin Rapids suddenly closed.

Essity has made an agreement to acquire approximately 44% of the Colombian hygiene company Productos Familia S.A. ("Familia"). After closing of the transaction Essity's ownership in Familia will amount to at least 94%. Essity has been an owner in Familia since 1985, and currently owns 50% of the company. The purchase price amounts to USD 1,540m (approximately SEK 13bn) for 100% of the company on a debt free basis.

Huhtamaki, a key advanced manufacturer of sustainable packaging solutions for consumers around the world, has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Jiangsu Hihio-Art Packaging Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of paper bags, wraps and folding carton packaging in China.

Rengo has acquired all of Toppan Printing's shares of its consolidated subsidiary Rengo Toppan Containers and made it a wholly owned subsidiary, as well as changed the company name to "RG Containers Co., Ltd."

The takeover offer of Greater Manchester-headquartered Scapa - which values the healthcare and industrial group at more than £410m - has completed.

A measure that could help revive Verso Corp.'s Duluth paper mill appears well-positioned to be signed into law as part of an omnibus jobs bill.

Liberty Diversified International (LDI) has acquired the assets of Miller Container Company, a Quad Cities-based manufacturer of corrugated cartons and displays.

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (RYAM) and GreenFirst Forest Products Inc., a Canadian lumber company, have entered into a binding asset purchase agreement pursuant to which RYAM has agreed to sell all of its lumber and newsprint facilities and related assets located in Ontario and Québec. to GreenFirst for an expected purchase price of approximately $214 million including inventory on hand at the time of closing which is payable approximately 85% in cash, 15% common shares of the capital of GreenFirst.

UPM sells its Jyväskylä plywood mill site and premises, located in Säynätsalo, Jyväskylä in Finland, to real estate developer Redeve Oy. The transaction was completed today, and the ownership of the real estate was transferred to Redeve immediately. At the same time, businesses currently renting premises on the site, will become tenants of Redeve.