Stora Enso to acquire Schneidersöhne Group

STORA ENSO OYJ Stock Exchange Release 25 April 2005 at 15.00

Stora Enso to acquire Schneidersöhne Group

Stora Enso has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire 
100% of the shares in the German paper merchant Schneidersöhne 
Group. The enterprise value of the company is estimated to be 
EUR 450 million. The all-cash acquisition is expected to be 
completed during the third quarter of 2005, subject to due 
diligence and approval by regulatory and competition authorities 
as well as other required approvals. Synergies have been 
identified and will be confirmed during the due diligence 
process and disclosed at the time of signing of the definitive 
agreement.

The acquisition of Schneidersöhne follows the acquisitions of 
two other paper merchants, Scaldia Papier in the Netherlands and 
Papeteries de France (PdF). The strategic aim of the 
acquisitions is to bring Stora Enso closer to the customer and 
end-user in the value chain and to improve the profitability of 
its merchant business. Through the Schneidersöhne acquisition, 
Papyrus, Stora Enso’s merchant business, will become the second-
largest paper merchant in Europe. 

Schneidersöhne is by sales volume the second-largest paper 
merchant in Germany and the fifth-largest in Europe. It has 
operations in 11 countries, the biggest markets being Germany 
and Switzerland. It has 38 branch offices, including 20 in 
Germany. Schneidersöhne has 2 100 employees and had net sales of 
EUR 1 130 million from a sales volume of 1 100 000 tonnes of 
paper and board in 2004. 

Schneidersöhne will become part of Stora Enso’s merchant 
business. Stora Enso will gain full management control of the 
company and it will be fully consolidated from the third quarter 
of 2005 onwards. 

The acquisition of Schneidersöhne will have the following 
financial effects on Stora Enso: earnings per share (EPS) and 
cash earnings per share (CEPS), including synergies, will be 
enhanced by EUR 0.02 and EUR 0.03 respectively. Stora Enso debt 
will increase by the enterprise value of Schneidersöhne, 
approximately EUR 450 million and its debt/equity ratio will 
increase by 0.06 units.

“Schneidersöhne is a well-established company with a wide 
customer base, attractive product range and strong product 
brands. This acquisition will enable us to better understand the 
requirements of the whole value chain and to develop our 
products and services accordingly. We believe this will benefit 
our other merchant customers as well,” says Kai Korhonen, Senior 
Executive Vice President, Stora Enso Paper.

“Papyrus’s strategy is to be a leading player in the European 
merchant market. This acquisition will enhance our geographical 
coverage, create a strong position in Germany and Switzerland, 
and strengthen our existing position in a number of other 
countries. The combination of Papyrus and Schneidersöhne will 
improve our customer services and generate improved financial 
returns,” says Mats Nordlander, President of Papyrus.


www.papyrus.com
www.storaenso.com

For further information, please contact:
Kai Korhonen, Senior Executive Vice President, Stora Enso Paper, 
tel. +44 20 7016 3162
Esko Mäkeläinen, CFO, tel. +44 20 7016 3115
Mats Nordlander, President of Papyrus, tel. +46 703 370 890
Kari Vainio, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, 
tel. +44 7799 348 197
Keith B Russell, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, tel. 
+44 20 7016 3146


Papyrus is a wholly-owned paper merchanting subsidiary of Stora 
Enso with net sales of EUR 640 million in 2004. Papyrus holds a 
leading position in the Nordic countries and a strong market 
position in Western Europe. It supplies 710 000 tonnes of paper 
annually. Papyrus currently has a presence in 13 European 
countries.

STORA ENSO OYJ



p.p. Jussi Siitonen     Jukka Marttila