Sappi spends £108.7m in pursuit of growth.

Berry Wiersum, chief executive officer of Sappi Europe, will oversee the acquisition of Cham Paper Group Holding AG for around £108.7m

The move is no surprise, as Saapi is working hard to lighten its reliance on the heavily commoditized and contracting print supply chain for volume applications, and towards higher profit margin sectors such as specialty papers and packaging. The purchase will reportedly add around €183m (£161.2m) in sales and approximately €20m (£17.62m) in EBITDA to Saapi’s books.

“This acquisition further strengthens Sappi’s speciality paper business both in Europe and globally by combining Cham’s strong brands and assets with Sappi’s global reach,” says Steve Binnie, chief executive officer of Sappi. He adds: “This transaction will increase profitability and unlock the significant growth and innovation potential inherent within the speciality paper market. I am very pleased that we have taken another signification step towards realizing our Vision2020 goal.”

This acquisition further strengthens Sappi’s speciality paper business both in Europe and globally by combining Cham’s strong brands and assets with Sappi’s global reach”

The transaction includes the acquisition of CPG’s Carmignano and Condino Mills in Italy, its digital imaging business located in Cham, Switzerland as well as all brands and know-how. It will be funded through internal cash resources.  The transaction is conditional on the approval from certain competition authorities and is expected to be complete during the first calendar quarter of 2018.

Berry Wiersum, chief executive officer of Sappi Europe also weighed in on the acquisition: “We are very excited about the possibilities this transaction opens up for Sappi as well as for Cham’s highly respected business. The products and brands which have been acquired are an excellent complement to our market offering, enabling us to offer our existing, as well as new customers in Europe, North America and globally, a broader range of products coupled with excellent customer service.”

The deal will now support Sappi’s diversification strategy and its “2020vision” strategy that sees it target diversification into growth segments of the print and paper supply chain, and divest itself of unprofitable sectors of the business. 

Source:Printmonthly