Mergers & Acquisitions

US investment company Bain Capital announced as early as last September together with Ahlström Capital, Viknum and Belgrano Inversiones, a EUR 2.1 billion takeover bid for all Ahlstrom-Munksjö shares.

Domtar Corporation announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Personal Care business to American Industrial Partners (AIP) for $920 million.

GP reached an agreement to sell the company's nonwovens business to Glatfelter, a leading global supplier of engineered materials, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, for $175 million. The sale must still go through customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances from competition authorities.

A second potential buyer has come forward within the past couple days for the mothballed Ponderay Newsprint Co. mill near Usk.

New York-based Behrens Investment Group has taken ownership of the bankrupt Gorham Paper and Tissue, the company previously owned by Lynn Tilton and her Patriarch Partners investment firm.

International Paper has entered into an agreement to sell its 90.38% ownership interest in Olmuksan International Paper to Mondi Group for approximately €66 million.

Ennis, Inc. announced that one of its wholly owned subsidiaries has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire the assets and assume some liabilities of Infoseal LLC in Roanoke, Virginia.

Weston Forest, a leading distributor and remanufacturer of softwood & hardwood lumber and specialty panel products, announced it has been acquired by the Watermill Group, a strategy-driven private investment firm.

Avery Dennison announced that it has acquired the business of Ohio-based ACPO Ltd. for the purchase price of $87.6 million, subject to certain post-closing adjustments. ACPO is a leader in pressure-sensitive overlaminate products for the label and flexible packaging markets and has approximately 170 employees.

Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, announced on 1 December 2020 that it had signed an agreement to sell a 30 percent stake in its Husum pulp mill in Sweden to the Swedish forest owners' cooperative (ekonomisk förening) Norra Skog.

UPM and the US-based pulp and paper producer Domtar Paper Company LLC have signed an agreement for UPM to acquire the total annual kraft lignin production of Domtar's Plymouth Mill in North Carolina, USA as of January 2021. This step enables UPM to expand its role in the growing lignin business and different application segments.

Talks to save the mill took a turn for the worse back in late October when Verso said they would suspend the effort to sell the mill due to the current economic climate. That led to outrage from local and state lawmakers.

Novolex®, an industry leader in packaging choice, innovation and sustainability, announced it has acquired the business of B&H Bag Company, a leading manufacturer of paper bags and other products. The B&H business will be a part of the Novolex Duro Bag® business, strengthening Duro's customer service through increased production capacity. The family-owned company has one manufacturing plant, located outside of Houston, Texas.

As part of its forest land optimisation, Stora Enso has signed an agreement to divest forest assets located in southern Sweden to the forestry fund Silvestica Green Forest AB. The total area of forest land in the transaction is approximately 5 200 hectares. The selling price is approximately SEK 940 million (EUR 90 million).

Södra is divesting Trivselhus AB to housing supplier Svensk Husproduktion. The takeover date is 1 March 2021.

Duluth will retain the services of a consulting firm at least a while longer in hopes that it can find a new owner for the Verso paper mill, which has been idled since summer.

UFP Industries, Inc. announced that UFP Industrial, LLC, closed on its agreement to purchase 100 percent of the equity of PalletOne, Inc. for approximately $232 million.

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. and Norbord Inc. jointly announced that West Fraser's management information circular and Norbord's management proxy circular (together, the "Circulars"), prepared in connection with the previously announced arrangement whereby West Fraser will acquire all outstanding common shares of Norbord (the "Norbord Shares") pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") under Section 192 of the Canada Business Corporations Act, are expected to be mailed to their respective shareholders by December 24, 2020.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, a leading global provider of marketing and business communications, issued the following statement in response to a recent article regarding the potential sale of its Asia Pacific business.

UFP Industries announced that its Board of Directors approved an agreement for UFP Industrial, LLC, to purchase 100% of the equity of PalletOne, Inc. for approximately $232 million. This price assumes a cash-free, debt-free balance sheet. UFP also agreed to pay $18 million for PalletOne's recent capital expenditures.

The Mayr-Melnhof Group has reached an agreement to acquire Kotkamills Group Oyj ("Kotkamills") from the previous owners for an enterprise value of around EUR 425 million.

The former Ponderay Newsprint Co. mill in Usk has been listed for sale at $11.5 million, following the facility's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing and closure in June.

Atlas Holdings announced that it has completed its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of LSC Communications, Inc., a North American leader in print and digital media solutions.

Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, has on 1 December 2020 signed an agreement to sell a 30 percent stake in its Husum pulp mill in Sweden. The buyer is the Swedish forest owners' cooperative (ekonomisk förening) Norra Skog, with whom Metsä Forest Sverige, responsible for Metsä Board's wood procurement in Sweden, has simultaneously entered into a long-term wood supply agreement.

SCA Wood Supply UK Ltd, which is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of timber and associated products for the Home Improvement and Builders Merchant sector in the United Kingdom, has been divested to BSW Timber Ltd. SCA will keep its organization for the sales of wood products to industrial customers in the UK.