US Corrugated to buy Longview box plants

Pulp & Paper, May 2007

CONTAINERBOARD

US Corrugated is acquiring Longview Fibre's eight corrugated box plants in the central and eastern US for $80.7 million in a transaction that would make the privately owned company one of the largest North American independent corrugated converters.

"This acquisition is an important step toward realizing our strategic vision for the business," said Four M Investments LLC chairman Dennis Mehiel.

Four M Investments is the parent of US Corrugated and its affiliates Mannkraft Corp and US Display Group.

"When you look at our entire system, we believe we are once again one of the nation's premier independent full service providers of corrugated packaging," Mehiel said.

The Mehiel family was a majority shareholder in Box USA, the largest US independent with 24 box plants and one mill before its sale to International Paper in 2004.

The deal, expected to close in the second quarter, would give Four M a total of 17 corrugated converting plants in 14 states, with annual containerboard consumption of more than 500,000 tons/yr.

This would make Four M a net buyer of 300,000 tons/year, excluding the 200,000 tons/yr produced by the company's recycled containerboard mill in Cowpens, SC. The deal with Longview does not include a containerboard supply agreement for U.S. Corrugated.

Longview is in the process of being acquired for $2.15 billion by Brookfield Asset Management of Toronto.