The acquisition will help BillerudKorsnas to expand its North America presence and offer more sustainable products to customers
BillerudKorsnas announced its plan of acquisition in December 2021. (Credit: D1_TheOne from Pixabay)
BillerudKorsnäs, a Swedish provider of packaging materials and solutions, has wrapped up the acquisition of US-based coated papers producer Verso for around $825m in cash.
The acquisition, announced in December last year, forms part of BillerudKorsnäs’ plans to drive profitable and sustainable growth.
Through the deal, BillerudKorsnäs aims to expand its presence in North America and offer more sustainable products to customers.
With the acquisition of Verso, BillerudKorsnäs will become one of the largest makers of virgin paper and packaging materials.
The combined 2021 net sales of BillerudKorsnäs and Verso is approximately SEK37.2bn.
BillerudKorsnäs announced its decision to continue serving Verso’s clients and will also implement previously stated plans to transform some of Verso’s assets into paperboard machines, all while retaining Verso’s position as a quality and cost leader in speciality and coated paper.
Effective from 1 April 2022, Verso’s SVP of operations Rob Kreizenbeck will be appointed as the president, North America in BillerudKorsnas’ executive management team.
The firm will also shorten its name and brand to “Billerud”, which will be used in all markets, including the US.
All the announced changes will be effective after the board of directors meeting at the 2022 Annual General Meeting.
BillerudKorsnäs president and CEO Christoph Michalski said: “I am very glad to welcome the entire Verso team to BillerudKorsnäs.
“Our combined assets and expertise in high-quality virgin fibre paper and board packaging materials create an excellent platform for sustainable and profitable growth.
“Integration work starts immediately, and we look forward to working together, sharing knowledge, initiating preparations for the conversion project and realizing a successful development.”
Kreizenbeck said: “We are excited to join forces with BillerudKorsnäs and become a larger, stronger organisation.
“Together, we are building a company that is passionately committed to a strong safety culture, sustainability, superior quality and delivering value to our customers.”