Stora Enso divests power plant and real estate in the Netherlands
STORA ENSO OYJ STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 21 May 2008 at 06.30 GMT
On 4 October 2006 Stora Enso announced its intention to close its Berghuizer
Mill at Wapenveld in the Netherlands. Paper production at the mill ceased in
October 2007 and the main machinery will be scrapped. Stora Enso has now signed
two separate agreements to sell the Berghuizer Mill power plant, land and
buildings. Cash proceeds from the transactions will total EUR 21.5 million, an
estimated disposal profit of EUR 7 million being recorded in the second quarter.
The land and buildings of the Berghuizer Mill, excluding the power plant, are
being sold to W. Goudkuil Beheer B.V. for industrial purposes and will be used
among others by Bitufa Waterproofing B.V. for the production of durable
waterproofing construction materials. The site will no longer be used for paper
production. The sale is expected to be finalised by late 2008.
In a parallel transaction, the gas-fired power plant at the mill site is being
sold to Van Twiller B.V., a Dutch subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, the US-based
investment bank. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of the second
quarter.
Berghuizer Mill, which was part of Stora Enso's Fine Paper business area, had an
annual capacity of 235 000 tonnes of woodfree uncoated fine paper, such as copy
and printing paper.
For further information, please contact:
Aulis Ansaharju, EVP, Fine Paper, tel. +358 400 480 984
Kari Vainio, EVP, Corporate Communications, tel. +44 7799 348 197
Keith B Russell, SVP, Investor Relations, tel. +44 20 7016 3146
Ulla Paajanen-Sainio, VP, Investor Relations and Financial Communications,
tel.
+358 40 763 8767
www.storaenso.com
www.storaenso.com/investors
STORA ENSO OYJ
pp. Jussi Siitonen Jukka Marttila