Approval has been granted by competition authorities to Kemira Oyj's acquisition of Finnish Chemicals Oy. The deal was made between Kemira Oyj and Erikem Luxembourg S.A. and will become effective at the end of this month. Through this acquisition Kemira will become the second largest pulp and paper chemicals supplier globally. The cash and debt free price of the deal totals EUR 345 million. Kemira expects to see the estimated positive effect on the company's result per share from the first full year on.
The operating income of Finnish Chemicals before financial items and taxes has varied between EUR 15 to 18 million over the past three years. The company's annual net sales level has come up to approx. EUR 200 million during the past three years, and the figure is expected to rise to close on EUR 250 million this year. Total assets came up to EUR 178 at the end of the year 2004.
The main products of Finnish Chemicals are sodium chlorate, sodium hydroxide, chlorine dioxide, and sodium borohydride. Through this deal Kemira will gain the position of the sole full range supplier to the pulp bleaching process globally.
Finnish Chemicals sells more than 80 per cent of the company's products to pulp and paper production, the main product being sodium chlorate for pulp bleaching. The company's share in the European sodium chlorate market totals below 40 per cent and 20 per cent in the U.S. The company's products are used in other industrial processes as well, e.g. in water treatment.
Finnish Chemicals has in all five production plants and the company employs 470 persons in Finland and in USA. The company's Finnish plants are located in Joutseno, Kuusankoski and Äetsä. The U.S. sites operate in Augusta (GA) and Eastover (SC).
After the acquisition Kemira's net sales in pulp and paper chemicals will come up to approx. EUR 810 million.
For further information please contact:
Kemira Oyj
Pulp & Paper Chemicals SBU
Juhani Lindholm, President, tel. +358 (0)10 862 1606, mobile +358 (0)50 553 4931
Michael Strand, Vice President, tel. +358 (0)10 862 7285, mobile +358 (0)50 69 285