Private equity firm Perusa buys Uetersen paper mill from Stora Enso

Brigl & Bergmeister agreed to acquire 100 percent of the shares in the Uetersen paper mill from Stora Enso in spring 2014, with the offer later withdrawn after the German Federal Cartel Office expressed reservations over the merger.

The divestment of the Uetersen mill by Stora Enso to Perusa was initially announced on December 13, 2014, and as of February 18, the paper mill will exist under the name Feldmuehle Uetersen with some 400 employees and operating two paper machines with a total annual capacity of around 250,000 tons.

The mill’s product range includes label and packaging papers, liner and cardboard, as well as two-side coated graphic papers in gloss and silk.

Selected segments of the existing product areas will be systematically expanded and strengthened. The current product portfolio includes label papers such as LabelSet and UniSet and the packaging papers LennoKraft, MediaCard and MediaLiner.

Uetersen’s graphic paper MediaPrint will, in the future, be sold under the new brand name Exceo.

Perusa operates two investment funds, Perusa Partners Fund 1 and Perusa Partners Fund 2, which invest in companies that are ‘confronted with dramatic change’, as well as those that are described as ‘profitable and easy to manage’.

The investment in the Uetersen paper mill has been made through Perusa Partners Fund 2.

Kämmerer, a manufacturer of technical specialty papers that serves niche markets globally, such as paper backings used as carrier material for coated abrasive products and pre-impregnated décor papers used for the coating of wooden surfaces, is an existing portfolio company of Perusa Partners Fund 2.

Stora Enso chief executive officer Karl-Henrik Sundström said: ‘We have now successfully completed the divestment of our Uetersen Mill.

‘I am confident that Perusa will be able to develop the mill further and ensure long-term future success in Uetersen.’

Stora Enso will continue to produce specialty papers at Imatra Mill and coated fine paper at Oulu Mill in Finland, and Sundström added: ‘We will continue our strategic transformation into a renewable materials growth company focusing on customers and innovation.’