Heinzel Group Completes Acquisition of PaperlinX Eastern European Business

PaperlinX Ltd., Australia, this week confirmed that it has completed the sale of its operations in Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia to Heinzel Group's (Vienna, Austria) subsidiary Europapier Group. In the transaction, Europapier International AG took control of all shares in Budapest Papir Kft., Bratislavska Papierenska Spolocnost s.r.o., Alpe Papir Trgovina na debelo d.o.o., Adria Papir d.o.o., and Dunav Papir d.o.o., effective November 1.

Europapier received clearance from competition authorities in each of the five countries without any restrictions, as expected. Europapier management says it intends to combine the strength of both enterprises in these markets and to utilize all potential synergies by merging businesses into one strong organization per country.

Europapier Group employs about 770 people and has an annual sales volume of around 445,000 metric tons. The Heinzel Group, which is united under the Heinzel Holding umbrella, ranks with its subsidiaries Zellstoff Pöls AG (Austria) and AS Estonian Cell (Estonia) among the largest producers of market pulp in central and eastern Europe. The Group's trading division includes Wilfried Heinzel AG, a globally active pulp and paper trading company, and Europapier International, a leading paper merchant in the CEE region.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/