Metsä Group Stock Exchange Release 12 December 2014 at 1.00 pm EET
Metsä Board Corporation, part of Metsä Group, has today published a stock exchange release on the company’s plan to introduce the final steps of transformation to a paperboard company and to fully exit the poorly performing paper production. The company will invest approximately EUR 170 million in a new folding boxboard machine at its Husum mill in Sweden and plans to discontinue paper production at the mill by the end of 2017 as well as initiate new measures to eliminate losses of its Gohrsmühle mill in Germany. At the same time, Metsä Board stated that it will make maximum EUR 30 million capital investment in Metsä Fibre’s Äänekoski bioproduct mill project. The final investment decision concerning the construction of the bioproduct mill will be made during spring 2015.
Metsä Board plans to finance the projected measures by current liquidity, operating cash flow and potentially also by an approximately EUR 100 million rights issue, based on the Board of Directors’ authority granted by the annual general meeting. The potential rights issue is targeted to be implemented during the first quarter in 2015. As Metsä Board’s principal shareholder Metsäliitto Cooperative is committed to a pro rata investment of approximately EUR 43 million in the potential rights issue.
METSÄ GROUP
Group Communications
For further information, please contact:
Vesa-Pekka Takala, CFO, Metsä Group, tel. +358 (0)10 465 4260
Reeta Kaukiainen, SVP, Communications, Metsä Group, tel. +358 (0)10 465 4541, +358 (0)50 522 0924
www.metsagroup.com
Metsä Group is a responsible forest industry group whose products’ main raw material is renewable and sustainably grown northern wood. Metsä Group focuses on tissue and cooking papers, consumer packaging paperboard, pulp, wood products, and wood supply and forest services. Its high-quality products combine renewable raw materials, customer-orientation, sustainable development and innovation. Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 4.9 billion in 2013, and it employs approximately 11,000 people. The Group operates in some 30 countries. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 123,000 Finnish forest owners.