SCA acquires minority holding in Central Package Group

SCA acquires minority holding in Central Package Group SCA has acquired 11% of the shares in the Central Package Group through a new share issue at a price of approximately SEK 36 M. The purchase price well exceeds SCA's required return. SCA has also received an option to increase its ownership share to 51% within five years. The majority shareholder is Anthony T.H. Chen. Central Package's sales in 1998 amounted to approximately USD 50 million. The company is based in Singapore and produces approximately 50 million square meters of corrugated board and other packaging products each year. Production is located in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. SCA is also joint owner, with Weyerhaeuser, of a company that produces corrugated board in China and sells liner and other packaging raw materials in the Asian markets. The first corrugated board plant in Shanghai started up in the spring of 1998 and the second, in Wuhan, is expected to be ready in the spring of 1999. The assessment has been made that Central Package would make an excellent contribution to the development of a network of plants, which should be required for long-term profitable operations in Asia. Another important factor is that the majority owner, Anthony T.H. Chen, possesses unique in-depth knowledge and ability to contribute to the management of the Chinese operations. Stockholm, 29 January 1999. SVENSKA CELLULOSA AKTIEBOLAGET SCA (publ) Corporate Communications For further information please contact: Colin J. Williams, President, SCA Packaging. Phone +32-2-718 37 30 or Sten Lindholm, Senior Vice President, SCA. Phone +46-8-788 51 62. INFORMATION SVENSKA CELLULOSA AKTIEBOLAGET SCA (publ) Corporate Communications Box 7827, SE-103 97 STOCKHOLM, Sweden Tel +46 8-788 51 00, Fax +46 8-678 81 30 www.sca.se ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/01/29/19990129BIT00040/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/01/29/19990129BIT00040/bit0002.pdf