Ahlstrom-Munksjö has entered into an agreement to acquire 60% of Chinese decor paper producer Minglian New Materials Technology and form a joint venture, comprising a state-of-the-art decor paper plant in the city of Xingtai, Hebei Province, China. A non-binding letter of intent with the majority shareholders was initially signed in November 2019 but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the negotiations and signing of the transaction.
Ahlstrom-Munksjö boasts a production of about 210,000 tonnes in five plants, i.e. Unterkochen and Dettingen in Germany, Toulouse in Spain, Caieiras in Brazil and Arches in France. By combining Minglian with its existing decor business, Ahlstrom-Munksjö will create a global leader in decor papers with improved cost competitiveness and strong presence in Europe, Americas and Asia. The business combination will allow Ahlstrom-Munksjö to leverage its brand and capabilities in the large and growing high-end decor paper market in China and strengthen Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s ability to serve international customers both in the short- and long term. Ahlstrom-Munksjö will provide technical and operational expertise to Minglian and strengthen Minglian’s customer offering and service in the domestic medium and high-quality segment as well as adjacent export markets. Minglian provides cost competitive manufacturing to the combined Decor business platform and opportunities to optimize production.
The transaction is subject customary closing conditions, and it is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2021.