With the planned takeover of the US specialty paper manufacturer Expera Specialty Solutions, Ahlstrom-Munksjö is continuing the expansion course it has pursued in recent months. The acquisition of Expera, which was contractually agreed on July 23, is to be completed during the second half of the year once the conditions laid down have been met. The purchase price is derived from the goodwill set at US$615m.
Expera emerged from the acquisitions of the "Specialty Papers" division of Wausau Paper and Thilmany Papers by KPS Capital Partners in May 2013. The company operates four paper mills in Wisconsin, Mosinee, De Pere (Nicolet Mill), Rhinelander and Kaukauna (Thilmany Mill). The production program comprises various specialty papers in the segments Industrial & Technical Papers, Pressure Sensitive Liner, coated papers and food packaging papers. In the Industrial & Technical Papers division, Expera also produces decorative and overlay papers with grammages of 41-360 g/m² for use in HPL production under the name "Resin-Gard Saturating Papers". Two Expera sites are integrated into pulp production. One plant produces softwood pulp, the other hardwood pulp.
In fiscal 2017 Expera generated sales of US$721m or €616m and EBITDA of US$66m or €56m with approximately 1,800 employees.