The Label and Processing business will combine with principally-owned EQT firm, Munksjö AB, to form Munksjö Corporation (Munksjö Oyj in Finnish).
The new company will focus on speciality papers and is expected to create synergies in the range of €25-30m when the transaction is completed during the first quarter of 2013.
Ahlstrom said the deal will enable it to focus on its value-added business areas including food packaging, building and energy.
The process
Ahlstrom’s Label and Processing business includes self-adhesive labels, wet glue labels and metalized labels for beverages and non-food packaging.
Its Food and Medical segment provide materials for teabags, fibrous meat casings and baking papers.
The first stage will see the European operations of the Label and Processing business area separated through a partial demerger and transferred into Munksjö Corporation in exchange for shares distributed to Ahlstrom's shareholders.
The second stage, following the public listing of the new company, will see Coated Specialties, the Brazilian part of the Label and Processing business area, separated through another partial demerger into Munksjö Corporation.
The plants in the transaction are Osnabrück in Germany; La Gere, Rottersac and Stenay in France, Label and Processing operations in Turin, Italy and the Coated Specialties plant in Jacarei, Brazil.
Significant step
“This transaction of combining the Label and Processing business area with Munksjö is the most significant step in our strategy execution,” said Jan Lång, president and CEO of Ahlstrom.
“It allows us to concentrate our resources to the areas where we see the most attractive value-add and growth opportunities.
“In addition to reinforcing our global leadership in Filtration, we seek growth opportunities in high performance materials for building, food packaging and medical applications.”
Following the transaction Munksjö´s current shareholders will own 29% of the company and Ahlstrom’s current shareholders will own 50%.
Jan Åström, president and CEO of Munksjö AB, will become the president and CEO of Munksjö Corporation and the head office will be in Stockholm.
It will employ 3,300 people at 16 production sites, including 14 in Europe, and one each in Brazil and China.
Åström said: “It will lead to strengthened competitiveness and efficiency and bring added growth opportunities to the company, organically as well as strategically.”