Seaman Paper expands in Germany and acquires paper manufacturer Julius Glatz GmbH

*BillerudKorsnäs has entered into an agreement to acquire Verso for a purchase price of approximately USD 825 million in cash, corresponding to USD 27.00 per share. *Verso is a leading producer of coated papers in North America with reported net sales for the last twelve months ended 30 September 2021 of USD 1 264 million and adjusted EBITDA of USD 158 million. *The purchase price corresponds to an enterprise value / adjusted EBITDA multiple of approximately 6x for the last twelve months ended 30 September 2021. The acquisition will immediately be accretive to earnings per share and create significant shareholder value over time with a more profitable product mix. *BillerudKorsnäs will build one of the most cost-efficient and sustainable paperboard platforms in North America by converting some of Verso’s assets into paperboard machines with an estimated capex of up to SEK 9 billion. *The acquisition and transformation will be financed through a combination of a rights issue of up to SEK 3.5 billion, additional debt and operating cash flow. *The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to the approval of Verso’s shareholders as well as the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Winfried Schaur has been appointed as Executive Vice President, Technology and Mika Kekki as Executive Vice President, UPM Plywood as of October 1, 2021. Both will be members of UPM’s Group Executive Team and report to Jussi Pesonen, President and CEO. They will succeed Jyrki Ovaska and Mika Sillanpää who both will retire at the age of 63 at the end of 2021. Winfried Schaur is currently the Executive Vice President, UPM Communication Papers and member of the Executive Team. He has held several senior positions in UPM’s paper business since 2001. Mika Kekki is currently the Vice President, Production & Operations, responsible for UPM’s eight plywood mills and production related support functions. He has held several management positions in UPM and preceding companies since 1994.

• Commerce has calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of 6.09 percent for mandatory respondent Catalyst Paper Corporation (Catalyst), 9.93 percent for mandatory respondent Kruger Trois-Rivieres L.P. (Kruger), 4.42 percent for mandatory respondent Resolute FP Canada Inc. (Resolute) and 0.65 percent for voluntary respondent White Birch Paper Canada Company NSULC (White Birch). All other producers/exporters in Canada have been assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 6.53 percent. • As a result of the preliminary affirmative determination, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to require cash deposits based on these preliminary rates. • The merchandise covered by this investigation is certain paper that has not been coated on either side and with 50 percent or more of the cellulose fiber content consisting of groundwood pulp, including groundwood pulp made from recycled paper, weighing not more than 90 grams per square meter. Groundwood pulp includes all forms of pulp produced from a mechanical pulping process, such as thermo-mechanical process (TMP), chemi-thermo mechanical process (CTMP), bleached chemi-thermo mechanical process (BCTMP) or any other mechanical pulping process. The scope includes paper shipped in any form, including but not limited to both rolls and sheets. Certain uncoated groundwood paper includes but is not limited to standard newsprint, high bright newsprint, book publishing, directory, and printing and writing papers. The scope includes paper that is white, off-white, cream, or colored. Click Read More below for additional information.