G-P to Purchase Alabama River and Alabama Pine Pulp Mills

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Georgia-Pacific, Atlanta, GA., USA, yesterday agreed to purchase the Alabama River and Alabama Pine pulp mills in Perdue Hill, Ala., from privately-held Parsons & Whittemore, Rye Brook, N.Y. The acquisition includes the assets of the pulp mills, Alabama River Woodlands, the tall oil plant, the biodiesel plant, the chip mills at Elba and Jacksons Gap, Ala., and a pulpwood yard at Demopolis, Ala. All employees of these operations will be offered employment with Georgia-Pacific. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

"With the help of literally thousands of people over the past 35 years, we have built a world-class business, with pulp mills that rank among the highest in quality, productivity, safety, and environmental responsibility," said George Landegger, Parsons & Whittemore chairman and CEO. "Sincere thanks goes out to our employees for their diligent and dedicated efforts, and to all those in the local communities, such as landowners, wood suppliers, and public officials, who had faith in us and who have assisted us greatly.

Landegger added, "I am proud of the relationships that we have developed in the Monroe County area and will continue to be active in local economic and social development. The sale to Georgia-Pacific represents a very good fit within the industry, and the pulp mills can look forward with confidence to a secure and successful future."

Jim Hannan, Georgia-Pacific CEO and president, said that "Georgia-Pacific is committed to strategic growth of our businesses, both organically as well as through acquisition and innovation. The employees and assets of Alabama River and Alabama Pine will be fully integrated into our GP Cellulose business unit. We believe this investment will add long-term value to our company, our cellulose business, and the communities where we operate."

Pat Boushka, GP Cellulose president, added that "we are excited to integrate the talented employees and high quality assets of Alabama River and Alabama Pine into our GP Cellulose business. We look forward to serving the existing customers of these businesses and the completion next year of the current fluff conversion project so that we can continue to grow with our global fluff customers."

GP Cellulose is a non-integrated supplier of market and fluff pulp to global markets, with pulp mills in Brunswick, Ga., and New Augusta, Miss. GP Cellulose's Brunswick and Leaf River mills produce an array of pulp for a variety of markets.