UPM-Kymmene, a listed Finnish paper manufacturer, acquired Blandin Paper Company from the USA. The acquisition price was approximately 650 million USD. Blandin's last year turnover was USD 330 million, of which it made an operating loss of 9.2 million. The operating profit in 1995 being 75 million USD. Blandin has an excellent reputation and is therefore considered as a way for UPM to strengthen its position in the US market.
Through the acquisition UPM strengthened its position as the world's biggest magazine paper manufacturer with a market share of around 25 per cent and the second biggest in the US after Consolidated Papers. The acquisition follows UPM's recent alliance with Singapore based April and comes as another step in its global strategy. "We aim to be global- one of the few that will remain in this business", says UPM's managing director Juha Niemela.
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ARTICLE
10 October 1997