Oji Holdings to Acquire Carter Holt Harvey’s Pulp, Paper, Packaging Businesses for JPY 92.3 Billion
Oji Holdings, Japan, this week reported that for NZD1,057 million (approximately $888 million/JPY 92.3 billion) it will jointly acquire the pulp and paper business of Carter Holt Harvey Limited (CHH), Carter Holt Harvey Pulp & Paper Limited (CHHPP), and certain related companies (collectively CHHPP Group), along with Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ). The two companies have executed a share purchase agreement for the transaction.
CHHPP Group manufactures pulp, paper, and packaging products in New Zealand and Australia. It is ultimately owned by Rank Group Limited. The transaction is subject to, among others, relevant regulatory approvals.
In recent years, Oji Holdings has been aggressively expanding its overseas businesses, particularly in Southeast Asia and other emerging markets where strong growth for pulp and paper is expected. The company positions paperboards and packaging products as its core products and has either acquired or built a total of 21 plants/facilities (including on-going green-field projects) in Southeast Asia and India during the past few years.
Oji Holdings additionally has been focusing on the forest resources business. It has been operating Pan Pac (plantation forests, lumber-processing and pulp business in New Zealand), CENIBRA (plantation forests and pulp business in Brazil), and a number of other plantation assets in Southeast Asia and Oceania, with an aim to further expand the business in Japan and globally in the near future.
CHHPP Group’s three main businesses are pulp, paperboard, and packaging: ·
- Pulp Business. Benefitting from its regional advantage with access to abundant softwood supplies, CHHPP manufactures bleached/unbleached softwood kraft pulp products such as NBKP and NUKP. The acquisition of CHHPP will allow Oji Holdings to offer broader products and solutions to its customers, adding to its Pan Pac's BCTMP and CENIBRA's LBKP. ·
- Paperboard Business. Using its softwood kraft pulp as the key raw material, CHHPP manufactures paperboard products that are known to be more intense and stronger than recycled paperboard products provided by its competitors in Asia. As the market in Asia continues to expand, Oji Holdings will seek to market CHHPP’s outstanding products to various customers to meet its needs for durability, while using CHHPP’s paperboards as raw material for its own packaging products going forward. ·
- Packaging Business. CHHPP Group manufactures packaging products in five facilities in New Zealand and Australia, in addition to its paper bag and paper cup businesses. Since Oji Holdings expects that the trade volume among Asia Pacific Rim countries will continues to increase, it believes that the business will grow in parallel with robust demand in the region.
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