SCA's acquisition of Georgia-Pacific's European tissue business has been closed

Jul 19, 2012. /Lesprom Network/. SCA’s acquisition of Georgia-Pacific´s European tissue business has been completed. The purchase price amounts to Euro 1.32 billion on a debt-free basis. The acquired operations had sales in 2011 amounting to Euro 1.25 billion, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network. Georgia-Pacific has a well-established presence in Europe in both away-from-home and consumer tissue products. Their products in both segments are in particular marketed with the well-known Lotus brand. “We are pleased that we now have closed the deal. The acquisition is a strategic fit that will strengthen our product offering with well-known brands and geographic reach in Europe. It also leads to substantial synergies”, says Jan Johansson, President and CEO of SCA. The annual synergies are estimated at Euro 125 million, with full effect in three years after closing. Related costs are estimated at Euro 130 million. The closing follows the EU clearance and its requirement that SCA divest Georgia-Pacific´s consumer tissue business in the UK including production capacity, Georgia-Pacific´s consumer tissue branded business in Benelux licensing out the Lotus brand during a limited time, and some of Georgia-Pacific´s and SCA´s retailer branded business in Scandinavia including production capacity. The businesses that are to be divested account for sales of approximately Euro 200 million, which is in line with the expectations and does not change SCA´s evaluation of the deal. SCA is a global hygiene and forest company that develops and produces personal care products, tissue, publication papers and solid-wood products.