Sappi appoints Berry Wiersum as chief executive officer of its European operations

Jan 10, 2007. /Lesprom Network/. Sappi, the world's leading producer of coated fine paper, announced on January 9 that Berry Wiersum (51) has been appointed chief executive officer of Sappi Fine Paper Europe (SFPE). Berry Wiersum replaces Wolfgang Pfarl (62), who will be retiring. Mr. Wiersum joins Sappi Fine Paper Europe on 15 January 2007 and will work with Mr. Pfarl for a familiarization period until the end of March 2007 when he will take over as chief executive of SFPE. Mr. Wiersum started his career at ICI Fibres, became president of Amoco Fabrics (Europe), then the president of Amoco Chemicals (Europe), and when Amoco was taken over by BP, he moved to BP to assist with the integration of the two groups in Europe. He subsequently left BP and joined Pechiney S.A. in France and ran the CEBAL packaging division until he was recruited as managing director of the packaging division of Kappa Packaging BV and member of the management board responsible for paper manufacture and packaging in the Kappa group. He holds a master of arts degree with Combined Honours in Mediaeval and Modern History and subsidiaries in French and Music from the University of St Andrews in the UK. Commenting on his appointment Eugene van As, chairman of Sappi Limited said: "Berry Wiersum is a seasoned executive with many years' experience in the process and manufacturing industry. He comes to Sappi with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to drive our European business forward in the years to come." Sappi Fine Paper Europe is a division of Sappi Limited, a global leader in the pulp and paper industry. Sappi Fine Paper Europe brands include Magno, HannoArt, Presto and Royal graphic papers, as well as Algro, Leine and Parade speciality labelling and packaging papers.