Dec 15, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. British-South African raw material group Anglo-American plc. is preparing to sell its subsidiary paper and packaging producer Mondi, a group of Austrian and South African companies, the Austrian daily Die Presse reported on December 14, 2005. This would directly affect the company's Austrian sites. The Mondi Group was set up in 2004 by the merger between South African Mondi Paper Company and Austrian paper mills Frantschach and Neusiedler. There was no official timetable or definite decision regarding a direct sale or listing and Mondi could also be transformed into an independent public company, Anglo-American spokesperson Kate Aindow told Die Presse. A sale was, however, certain as Anglo-American was planning to focus on its core activity, mining, Ms. Aindow added. According to Die Presse, Mondi is mostly concerned about being sold to a competitor or to a venture-capital fund. Mondi's management and personnel reportedly favoured a public offering. Mondi faces a slow-down on the paper market which will compel it to introduce cost-cutting measures and jobs cuts in Austria for the first time in the last ten years. This would mostly affect the Frantschach site in the province of Carinthia, where savings of up to single-digit million euros can still be achieved following investments, Mondi Packaging Frantschach CEO Christian Skilich said. The excess capacities on the packaging market in Europe forced Mondi Packaging, a company of the Mondi group, to shut down two sites in Britain and Switzerland. The company's operating profit fell 20% year-on-year to Euro 105 million in the first half of 2005. On the background of constant sales of Euro 2.8 billion, profit in full 2005 are also expected to fall, Mondi Packaging CEO Peter Oswald forecast.