A year ago today (6 February) Antalis announced that it had appointed investment bank Goldman Sachs to set up a new shareholding structure in agreement with its controlling shareholder Sequana, which was subsequently placed in liquidation.

Sequana has a 75.21% stake in Antalis, with the remaining shares owned by public investors (16.25%) and BPIFrance (8.54%).

Antalis said it currently had no further comment on the on-going process beyond the statement issued in December, which said it was continuing in its process of setting up a new shareholding structure, and was also in discussions with its main financing partners.

A spokesperson said that the complex liquidation of Sequana was not a factor in the timeline.

At the end of last week shares in €2.3bn (£1.95bn) turnover Antalis slipped to a new 52-week low of €0.53 (high: €1.35). The firm’s current market capitalisation is €40.75m.

Antalis had sales of €595m in its UK and Ireland business in 2018 and is the UK’s biggest paper merchant.

Over the past year industry sources have suggested a number of potentially interested parties including Europapier Group and Japanese paper groups OJI Holdings and Nippon Paper. The latter acquired the former Paperlinx business in Australia.