Helsinki, Finland 28 May 2014 -- A potential buyer has emerged for Stora Enso's French Corbehem magazine paper mill. A sale would prevent the 330,000 t mill from being closed in June.

Stora Enso is in talks with a potential buyer for its Corbehem magazine paper mill in France. Arnoud Montebourg, the French Minister of Industrial Renewal, said the company was conducting "exclusive negotiations" with the consortium Valpaco about a possible sale of the site. Local media reported that the potential buyer would present a business plan at the beginning of June. Valpaco's businesses include paper merchanting and paper management. Neither Valpaco nor Stora Enso were available for comments.

In October 2012 Stora Enso announced that it would sell its Corbehem mill. However, a buyer has not been found so far and the closure of the site in June is becoming more and more likely in the view of employee representatives. The Corbehem mill has an annual capacity of 330,000 t of LWC paper.