The divestment to the US-based global producer of uncoated paper, which was announced in September, was closed yesterday (2 January) after regulatory approvals. The enterprise value of the transaction is approximately €150m (£132m).

The Nymölla site’s capacity is 485,000 metric tonnes of woodfree uncoated office papers, with Multicopy as the leading paper brand. Based on the 2021 figures, the divestment is expected to reduce Stora Enso’s annual sales by approximately €290m.

Subject to closing date adjustments, Stora Enso will book a one-time disposal loss of approximately €25m, including currency translation adjustments, in its IFRS operating profit in the first quarter of 2023, as an item affecting comparability.

This deal is part of the earlier announced plan to divest four of Stora Enso’s five paper production sites. In line with its strategy, the company’s focus is on long-term growth potential for its renewable products in packaging, building solutions, and biomaterials innovations.

The divestment process continues for the remaining paper sites in Hylte and Anjala, with no committed timeline for conclusion. The process has no immediate effect on Stora Enso’s paper operations which continue to serve their respective customers.

Just before Christmas, Stora Enso announced its intention to sell its consumer board production site in Beihai, China.

The business has also recently strengthened its focus on specialised pulp grades by investing €38m in unbleached kraft pulp production at its Enocell site in Finland and €42m in fluff pulp production improvement at its Skutskär site in Sweden.

It said these investments will support the growing consumer demand for non-bleached renewable packaging materials and hygiene products respectively.

The Enocell site’s annual capacity is 630,000 tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp. It employs approximately 280 people. Skutskär’s annual capacity is 545,000 tonnes of fluff, softwood, and hardwood pulps. This site employs around 420 people.