Map Merchant Group is to be the new name for the paper merchanting operations formerly known as New Merchanting Force (NMF); the new company headquarters will be located in Surbiton, Surrey (PrintWeek, 11 May).


"The UK is one of our strongest markets, and being based here improves our access to large, multi-national companies," said Map president and chief executive officer Josef Wanzenbck.


NMF was formed following the merger last year of Forest House and MoDo Paper Trade, the merchanting arms of Mets-Serla and MoDo (now M-real).


Map will effectively be the third largest merchanting operation in Europe, with a turnover in the region of 1.09bn (E1.7bn), and a customer base of around 50,000.


The UK merchanting operations of Map comprises the businesses of Classic Papers, Hedsorboard, James McNaughton Paper, MoDo Merchants, and Premier Paper.


None of the merchanting operations will change their names, but will add "a member of Map" to their literature, except for those in the Baltic regions whose names will be altered.


All UK merchants will retain their corporate identities, trading in the paper market as before.


Both Wanzenbck, and Map president, Karl-Johan Lindborg, will be based at the Surbiton headquarters, home to the sales office base of Hedsorboard.


Story by Andy Scott