In view of the current stock market valuation of shares in the forest
products industry, SCA and Holmen have jointly decided to suspend their
plan to float Modo Paper on the stock market and broaden its share
ownership. The flotation of Modo Paper, in which SCA and Holmen each have
a 50 per cent interest, was planned for this spring.
This decision means that neither SCA's announced initial public offering
(IPO) of 35 per cent of the total number of shares in Modo Paper nor
Holmen's announced distribution of an equivalent number of shares in Modo
Paper to its own shareholders will take place in accordance with the
original plan.
Modo Paper
Modo Paper was formed on October 1, 1999 as the result of a merger of the
fine paper activities within SCA and the former MoDo. Modo Paper is
Europe's third largest fine paper producer with an output of 1.8 million
tonnes of fine paper and a merchanting business supplying a total of some
1.1 million tonnes of paper.
The business includes production in Sweden, Germany, France and Austria
and sales offices and merchanting activities in some 20 European
countries. The company has approximately 6,800 employees and an annual
turnover of some SKr 20 billion.
For further information please contact Michael Bertorp, Excecutive Vice
President of SCA, telephone +46 8 788 51 54, and Per Ericson, President
and CEO of Holmen, telephone +46 8 666 21 00.