Sappi successfully concludes its acquisition of the Matane Mill in Quebec Canada from Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM)

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sappi Limited, a leading global producer of dissolving wood pulp, specialities and packaging papers, graphic papers and biomaterials, today announced that all conditions precedent relating to the acquisition of the Matane high yield hardwood pulp mill in Quebec Canada from Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) have been fulfilled and closing has been completed.

The main benefits of the acquisition include:

• Increases Sappi's pulp integration for its fast-growing packaging businesses in both North America and Europe
• Supports Sappi's 2020Vision to grow in higher margin growth segments
• Reduces Sappi's cost of pulp
• Reduces the volatility of earnings through the pulp cycle
• Establishes certainty of supply for Sappi's increasing need for high yield pulp to support its recent investments
• Will enable supply to be increased over time to Sappi's mills in North America and Europe as demand increases and capacity expands in certain growth businesses
• Leverages Sappi's global pulp expertise to profitably sell market pulp to strategic customers and segments

Commenting on the transaction Steve Binnie, Chief Executive Officer of Sappi Limited, said: "I am very pleased that we have been able to finalise this acquisition so quickly. This acquisition will provide Sappi with both cost reductions and decreased volatility at a very competitive price per ton of pulp.  The transaction strengthens Sappi's pulp integration, improves our profitability and is another significant milestone towards realizing our Vision2020 goal."

Further information can be found at www.sappi.com

Note to Editors:

About Sappi Limited

A global leader in paper, paper pulp and dissolving wood pulp solutions, Sappi Limited (listed on the JSE - SAP), is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa; has over 12,000 employees; manufacturing operations on three continents, in seven countries (nine mills in Europe, three mills in America and four mills in South Africa) and customers in over 150 countries worldwide

Sappi works closely with customers to provide relevant and sustainable paper, paper pulp, dissolving wood pulp and biomaterial products and related services and innovations. Our market-leading range of paper products includes: coated fine papers used by printers, publishers and corporate end-users; casting release papers used by suppliers to the fashion, textiles, automobile and household industries; and in our Southern African region newsprint, uncoated graphic and business papers, premium quality packaging papers and paper grade pulp. Our dissolving wood pulp products are used worldwide by converters to produce viscose fibre, pharmaceutical products as well as a wide range of household and consumer products.

In FY2018 we produced approximately: 5.7 million tons of printing and writing, speciality and packaging paper; 2.3 million tons of paper pulp, and 1.4 million tons of dissolving wood pulp.

We are investing in developing our biomaterials (nanocellulose, fibre composites and lignosulphonate) and biorefinery (second generation sugars and bio-energy) businesses.

We continue to grow into a profitable and cash-generative diversified business with an exciting future in woodfibre, a renewable resource.

Matane Mill (Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, Canada): The mill is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River at the mouth of the Matane River. The mill has a capacity of 270,000 mt per annum of high yield hardwood pulp. It has 129 employees.

SOURCE Sappi Limited