The co-operative negotiation, started in September, regarding UPM Plywood Head Quarter operations and Sales in Finland have been completed. As a result of the negotiations, the number of UPM Plywood’s personnel in Finland will reduce by 53 persons, out of which 35 will be redundancies. The reduction takes place primary in Lahti. The reasons for the reduction are Head Quarter and Sales organisations’ re-organisation and improvement of efficiency.

The personnel reduction will take place by the mid of 2012. The persons, who are left unemployed, will be provided support for re-employment. The number of personnel in UPM Plywood after the reduction will be about 2500, out of which, about 1700 in Finland. The number of personnel in Lahti will be about 85 after the reduction.

The co-operative negotiation regarding UPM Plywood Head Quarter operations and Sales in Finland were completed ahead of estimated schedule. Negotiations regarding the international sales network and Mill Maintenance in Finland, which were started at the same time, are still on-going.

Mr. Kari Tuutti has been appointed Senior Vice President - Communications & Investor Relations as of 31 October 2011. He will report to CEO Mika Seitovirta. Mr. Tuutti will be responsible for Outokumpu's global external and internal communications and investor relations activities. He will be based in Espoo, Finland. Ms. Päivi Lindqvist, the current SVP - Communications and Investor Relations, will start her maternity leave on 24 October 2011 and her future role in Outokumpu will be announced later. 

Kari Tuutti is a Finnish citizen, born 1970 and holds a Master of Economics from Helsinki School of Economics. Over the past 12 years, he has held several senior communications, investor relations and marketing positions at Nokia Group.

CEO Mika Seitovirta: "Kari has an extensive experience in various global communications roles covering financial communications and investor relations, media relations as well as consumer marketing. I am very pleased to have him in the Outokumpu team and look forward to his contribution in transforming Outokumpu and driving our business forward."

Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper celebrates the International Year of Forests by supporting an NGO-led reforestation project

Mondi will donate 1 percent of the net proceeds of Green Range certified paper sold on November 15^th, 2011 to the OroVerde project “Guatemala – Tree for Tree”

To mark the UN designated International Year of Forests 2011, Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper has launched a new initiative to support re-forestation around the world in conjunction with the NGO OroVerde. Mondi, an international paper and packaging company, will donate 1 percent of the net proceeds of Green Range certified copy paper sold on November 15^th to the OroVerde project “Guatemala – Tree for Tree.” For every euro donated to the project one tree can be planted.  

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests recognising that forests play a critical role in the achievement of sustainable development, poverty eradication and internationally agreed development goals. Responsible forest management enables a wide range of social and economic benefits and environmental services, such as livelihoods for people and habitats for animals and plants.

“We are pleased to kick off a number of initiatives in support of the 2011 International Year of Forests,” says Johannes Klumpp, Marketing and Sales Director, Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper. “The OroVerde ‘Tree for Tree’ project in Guatemala presents an opportunity to preserve a unique biodiverse rain forest that provides refuge for many rare and endangered animal species and also helps to combat climate change through carbon storage.” One hectare of growing forest can trap up to 29 tons of CO₂ out of the atmosphere per year.

On September 29^th Mondi hosted its first Green Event in Barnes, U.K. with over 60 participants from Merchants, customers, and NGO representatives. On September 30^th Mondi attended FSC® Friday, which focused on the launch of their ‘In Good Company CEO Campaign’. “

“Mondi prides itself on being a responsible corporate citizen and using natural resources in a sustainable way. FSC certification plays a major role in this and encompasses both social and environmental aspects of forest management. Our holistic approach creates long-term value for all our stakeholders and upholds our stewardship role,” said Mondi CEO David Hathorn, who is featured in the CEO campaign.  

Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper has also developed an online Green Module, which goes live end of October. The tool will be openly available on our website for customers, partners and the public to learn more about general environmental topics, sustainable practices that relate to Mondi and the paper industry, and the environmental certification schemes that are an important requisite for our Green Range branded papers. 

More information on the Oroverde ‘Tree for Tree” reforestation project can be found under: www.oroverde.de/projekte-international/guatemala.html

For more information about Mondi’s Green Range, please visit: www.mondigroup.com/greenrange

Transaction Will Create a North American Leader in Protective Packaging

Sonoco, one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tegrant Corporation, a leading provider of highly engineered protective, temperature-assured and retail security packaging solutions, from Metalmark Capital for $550 million in cash. The final consideration is subject to a normal adjustment of net working capital.

According to Harris E. DeLoach, Jr., Sonoco chairman and chief executive officer, the acquisition of Tegrant is the largest in Sonoco's history and will create a North American leader in multimaterial protective packaging. Tegrant is projected to generate 2011 sales of approximately $440 million. When combined, Sonoco is projected to generate sales of approximately $5.0 billion in 2012. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Sonoco's 2012 pro forma earnings by approximately $.10 per diluted share, including estimated adjustments for purchase accounting and approximately $11 million of expected synergies, when fully realized.

The total purchase consideration, adjusted for expected tax benefits, is approximately 6.8 times Tegrant's estimated pro forma 2011 EBITDA of approximately $74 million¹, including synergies. The transaction is expected to be financed from existing cash and debt with an estimated credit leverage ratio of 2.2 times at closing. Sonoco intends to reduce the incremental debt using free cash flow over the next few years. The acquisition is subject to normal regulatory review and is expected to close in November 2011.

Tegrant is headquartered in DeKalb, Ill., and operates three strategic business units. Protexic(TM) Brands, the largest business unit, is North America's premier manufacturer of molded expanded foam. It serves a number of industries, including high technology, consumer electronics, automotive, appliances and medical devices. Tegrant's ThermoSafe(R) Brands unit is the world's leading provider of temperature-assured solutions, primarily used in packaging temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and food. Tegrant's Alloyd Brands(R) business unit is a leading manufacturer and designer of high-visibility packaging, printed products and blister packaging machines for retail and medical markets. Tegrant operates more than 30 manufacturing, design and testing facilities in the United States, Mexico and Ireland and employs more than 2,000 employees.

"The addition of Tegrant and its family of businesses significantly advances Sonoco as a protective packaging solutions leader and greatly expands the products, services and capabilities we can offer our customers," said DeLoach.

"Sonoco's combined Protective Packaging businesses will represent approximately 11 percent of Sonoco's projected 2012 sales and further enhance our ability to grow in both consumer and industrial markets globally. As an example, Tegrant brings to Sonoco immediate access to faster growing markets such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and health and beauty, while providing us expanded access to a variety of industrial components and automotive markets."

DeLoach said that Tegrant's president and chief executive officer, Ron Leach, has agreed to stay with Sonoco and continue leading Tegrant's businesses. John Colyer, Sonoco's vice president, Global Industrial Converting, will be given expanded responsibility for the Company's global protective packaging, tubes and cores, and wire and cable reels integration leader for the combined Sonoco Protective Packaging businesses.

Macquarie Capital served as financial advisor to Sonoco. Tegrant was represented by Sagent Advisors.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has acquired the assets of Tristar Industries Ltd. The action combines ANDRITZ’s strengths as an original equipment manufacturer with Tristar’s capabilities as a quality rebuild and manufacturing facility.

ANDRITZ will operate the former Tristar facility in Delta, British Columbia, as the Delta Service Centre for its PULP & PAPER’s service business. According to Carl Luhrmann, Senior Vice President of ANDRITZ Inc. in North America, the location in Delta is ideal for servicing customers in the Northwest. ANDRITZ Inc. has been performing rebuilds and other manufacturing for many years in the USA at its Pell City, Alabama, facility, which was recently expanded.

“We have anticipated the rapidly rising transportation costs and other logistical issues, and have been looking for a facility in the Northwest,” Luhrmann says. “This acquisition is a good fit for us. The experienced employees, reputation, and geographic location of the Tristar operation make it ideal for servicing customers in the Western United States and Canada.”

The Delta Service Centre will be dedicated to supporting rebuilds of pulp and paper equipment such as continuous digesters, M&D digesters, vacuum washers, twin roll presses, Compaction Baffle Filters™, thick stock pumps, and recausticizing filters. ANDRITZ Service Account Managers will continue to be the customer’s single point of contact for all ANDRITZ products.

In addition to rebuilds, ANDRITZ has developed several new technologies for vacuum washers that have been manufactured in the south which have been very popular with customers. “With a quality manufacturing facility in the Northwest, we will now be able to offer these technologies to this region,” Luhrmann adds.

ANDRITZ will also be able to utilize Tristar capabilities to expand its services. As an example, Tristar had excellent capabilities in the area of Clove-Rotor™ pump rebuilds. ANDRITZ will utilize the drawings, patterns, machining capabilities, and expertise to quickly establish Pell City as its southern service center for Clove-Rotor™ pump rebuilds.

Metso Batch Cooking Optimizer plays an important role in the control of raw materials and energy flows

Metso will supply an advanced batch cooking optimization solution to the specialty cellulose pulp mill of AV Cell Inc. in Atholville, Canada. The startup is scheduled for the end of the fourth quarter in 2011.

The delivery includes Metso Batch Cooking Optimizer SI with a Modified Cooking Factor control along with Metso's AT analyzer for the automatic measurement of SO2.

Metso Batch Cooking Optimizer is designed to manage the pulp quality and production rates, including digester scheduling. It plays an important role in the control of raw materials and energy flows, as well as such variables as production rate, wood species, Kappa level, and disturbance management.

The model-based quality control automatically adapts itself to changing process conditions and automatically affects the long-term Kappa number deviation. Over the past decades, Metso has delivered dozens of batch cooking optimizers to pulp mills around the world, also for the production of dissolving pulp.

AV Cell will use the solution especially to control the quality of its dissolving grade chemical pulp in its batch digesters. The mill's entire capacity of 119,000 tons is exclusively used by the AV Group's viscose staple fiber units in India, Thailand, Indonesia and China.

Part of the AV Group, AV Cell Inc. is a member of the pulp and fiber business of the Aditya Birla Group. Tembec Inc, a leading integrated forest product company in Canada, owns a nominal 5% holding in AV Cell Inc.

Södra Timber has acquired all shares in Romerike Trelast, located outside Oslo. The company will operate independently, but will be renamed Södra Timber AS.

Romerike Trelast comprises a sawmill with an annual production of 60,000 cubic metres of sawn timber, a planing mill and a pressure treatment plant. Romerike is situated 40 kilometres north of Oslo, close to Gardermoen Airport, and is currently owned by Romeriks Almenningene and Viken Skog.

Romerike was relocated to its current site in 1995 in connection with the construction of Gardermoen Airport. Romerike has approximately 35 employees and annual sales of about NOK 110 million.

Södra already has operations in Norway, including two pulp mills, a forestry organisation, Södra Interiör and house sales through Trivselhus. The acquisition of Romerike will provide Södra with a platform for sawn and planed timber.

"The acquisition is a logical step to achieve a cohesive forest-industrial structure in Norway. We have a long-term ambition for the acquisition and it strengthens our presence in one of the world's best timber market," says Leif Brodén, Södra's CEO.

Södra Interiör AS will manage and coordinate sales and logistics using its existing sales organisation. The aim is to further develop Romerike into a centre for Södra Timber and Södra Interiör in Norway.

"With this acquisition, we can offer a complete timber range with everything from construction timber to mouldings and flooring. By coordinating sales and logistics with Södra Interiör, we can offer a comprehensive service concept to our building-materials and industrial customers in Norway," says Peter Nilsson, President of Södra Timber.

The transaction is pending final approval by the Norwegian competition authority, which is expected to take between three and five weeks.

Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonoco (NYSE: SON), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, today announced the opening of its new paper tube and core manufacturing facility in Grünsfeld, Germany. The new Grünsfeld plant will focus its production on M-Core(TM) wide-ply paper mill cores used in the high-end segment of the paper industry.

"Investment in this new facility is primarily about responding to the changing market needs in the European paper industry," said Adam Wood, vice president of Sonoco-Alcore. "European printing houses have evolved, using wider printing presses and increased running speeds, which means traditional paper mill cores must evolve also."

"With the Grünsfeld facility, we have invested in bringing this technology to Germany, meeting the needs of Central European paper mills and allowing our customers to better supply print houses with a cost-effective, quality product."

Sonoco-Alcore developed wide-ply paper technology and the M-Core Series to produce a core with improved properties such as increased dynamic strength and e-modulus, meeting the requirements of new printing machines.

Europe's leading paper tube and core producer, Sonoco-Alcore places a strong emphasis on investing in the resources necessary to ensure the continued success of its customers and operates 29 tube and core plants and six paper mills in Europe.