BillerudKorsnäs completes acquisition of Verso

BillerudKorsnäs is committed to continuing to serve Verso’s customers across all segments and realizing its previously announced plans to convert several of Verso’s assets into paperboard machines, while maintaining Verso’s position as a quality and cost leader in specialty and coated paper. Effective April 1, 2022, Rob Kreizenbeck, Verso’s senior vice president of operations, assumes the position of president, North America in BillerudKorsnäs’ executive management team. Going forward, BillerudKorsnäs intends to simplify its company name and brand to 'Billerud', which it will operate under in all markets, including the United States. The board of directors will propose at the 2022 annual general meeting to amend the company’s name to Billerud AB (publ), and the change will be successively implemented thereafter.

'I am very glad to welcome the entire Verso team to BillerudKorsnäs. Our combined assets and expertise in high-quality virgin fiber paper and board packaging materials create an excellent platform for sustainable and profitable growth. Integration work starts immediately, and we look forward to working together, sharing knowledge, initiating preparations for the conversion project and realizing a successful development,' comments Christoph Michalski, president and CEO of BillerudKorsnäs. 

'We are excited to join forces with BillerudKorsnäs and become a larger, stronger organization. Together, we are building a company that is passionately committed to a strong safety culture, sustainability, superior quality and delivering value to our customers,' says Kreizenbeck.

The negative cash flow effect of the acquisition for BillerudKorsnäs amounts to approximately 6.0 billion SEK. The transaction was financed by bank loans, which BillerudKorsnäs plans to refinance through the issuance of debt instruments and an equity rights issue during 2022. Verso will be consolidated in BillerudKorsnäs’ accounts from today and will be reported in the product area Paper. BillerudKorsnäs expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings per share immediately and to create significant shareholder value over time with a more profitable product mix.

The date of publication of BillerudKorsnäs’ interim report for the first quarter 2022 has been changed to May 5, 2022.

As a result of the transaction, Verso common stock ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange prior to the opening of trading today.