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METSÄLIITTO TO PURCHASE MAJORITY INTERES

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METSÄLIITTO GROUP                  RELEASE                  1(1)


                                   19 November 2003 at 11.00 am

METSÄLIITTO TO PURCHASE MAJORITY INTEREST IN METSÄ TISSUE

Under a letter of intent signed today, Metsäliitto Cooperative and 
M-real Corporation will enter into a transaction that will make
Metsäliitto the principal owner of Metsä Tissue with 66 per cent of
the shares. The remaining 34 per cent of the shares will be retained
by M-real Corporation.

Metsä Tissue’s total debt-free value as defined in the transaction is
EUR 570 million, which corresponds to a purchase price of
approximately EUR 14.7 per share. The transaction is expected to be
finalized at the turn of the year once all the necessary technical
arrangements have been completed. Metsäliitto will use a loan to
provide most of the capital it needs for the transaction.

Metsäliitto is seeking to develop Metsä Tissue’s business operations
as an independent company on a long-term, profitable basis. The
tissue paper business has recently been showing steady profitability,
and Metsä Tissue is in good shape financially.

Tissue production is important to Metsäliitto’s wood raw material
procurement and to the pulp producers who are its customers because
the raw material obtained from thinning provides suitable fibre for
the manufacture of hygiene products.

“We believe that with Metsä Tissue’s ownership now on a firm
foundation, the company will be able to continue its profitable
growth in the future. It has well-laid business plans and a well-
motivated workforce to implement themö, comments Metsäliitto Group
President and CEO Antti Oksanen.

Metsä Tissue is a consumer goods company whose customers are
consumers (households) and large-scale consumers of tissue paper
products and baking and cooking papers. Its main market is Europe,
where it is the fourth largest supplier of tissue products and the
market leader in baking and cooking papers. Metsä Tissue is also the
market leader in tissue products in the Nordic countries.

The company’s brand names are Lambi, Serla, Leni, Mola, Katrin and
Fasana. In 2002 Metsä Tissue produced a turnover of EUR 650 million
and employed 3,300 people. Its mills are located in Germany, Finland,
Sweden and Poland.



Pekka Kivelä
Senior Vice President, Group Communications and Public Affairs


For more information contact
Hannu Anttila, Senior Vice President, Finance,
tel. +358 10 469 4260, GSM +358 50 2398

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