Ahlstrom-Munksjö has agreed with Specialty Papers Holding, L.P. to acquire Expera Specialty Solutions (“Expera”), a U.S. based specialty paper producer.
The acquisition will almost triple Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s net sales in the U.S. and provide a platform for growth. Together Ahlstrom-Munksjö and Expera, combined with the Caieiras acquisition announced in April, generated illustrative combined annual net sales of Euro 2,921 million in 2017. Ahlstrom-Munksjö has secured fully committed financing for the transaction.
The acquisition supports Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s ambition to strengthen its position in selected high-end, value adding areas of the global fiber-based materials market that offer positive growth outlook and are supported by market drivers for more sustainable products and solutions. The acquisition will be earnings enhancing.
Expera is highly complementary to Ahlstrom-Munksjö and will provide opportunities for cross-selling and best practice sharing as well as preliminary cost synergies of approximately Euro 8 million ($10 million) by year end 2019. In addition, value will be created from joint product development and sharing of best practices. One-time costs related to the achievement of synergies are estimated at Euro 7 million ($8 million). Strength in product development will help the company to serve its customers better.
Closing of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Closing of the acquisition is expected during the second half of 2018.
