Cham Paper Group sells its speciality paper business to the South African Sappi Limited. Following the divestment of the paper business, Cham Paper Group will focus on its real estate business. The transaction is subject to the approval of anti-trust authorities.

Printing Papers

Cham Paper Group sells its speciality paper business to Sappi Group

Cham Paper Group sells its speciality paper business to the South African Sappi Limited. The integration of the speciality paper business into the Sappi Group will open up new perspectives for the two high-performance plants of Cham Paper Group in Carmignano and Condino as well as for their employees and for the Digital Imaging team in Cham. The transaction is subject to the approval of anti-trust authorities.The transaction is expected to close in the 1Q 2018.

In recent months, the Cham Paper Group's Board of Directors has examined all strategic options for the company's future success following the relocation of the speciality paper production from Switzerland to Italy and the comprehensive modernisation of the plants in Carmignano and Condino. Although Cham Paper Group's profitable speciality paper business is well positioned today, it is still too small to develop its market position on its own in the long term. Accordingly, selling it to the Sappi Group is an optimal solution.

Following the divestment of the speciality paper business, the company will focus on its real estate business and will operate under the name «Cham Group». The sale at an enterprise value of CHF 146.5 million will result (after deduction of bank debt, liabilities and cost) in an inflow of approximately CHF 125 million in cash to the Group.