J&F sells Eldorado BEK mill to Paper Excellence for Real 15B ($4.7B)

J&F Holding has announced that it has closed an agreement with Paper Excellence to sell its participation in Eldorado’s 1.7 million tonne/yr bleached eucalyptus kraft (BEK) pulp mill located in Mato Grosso do Sul, Midwest Brazil. 

Paper Excellence agreed to pay Real 15 billion ($4.7 billion) for Eldorado, but the amount is subjected to adjustments according to working capital and net debts, Eldorado said.

Eldorado added that the deal will also observe the rights of its minor shareholders, such as the Brazilian pension funds Petro and Funcef. "The agreement’s conclusion is subject to all regular proceedings for this kind of operation," the note detailed.

Paper Excellence is owned by the same family that owns Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), the Widjaja.

According to Eldorado, Paper Excellence is one of the world’s largest pulp players, with industrial assets in Canada and France and a total production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes/yr.

APP has an annual combined pulp, paper, packaging and converting capacity of over 19 million tonnes/yr across Indonesia and China.