The deal, which was announced in October 2024, will see the acquired sawmills be integrated with Stora Enso’s packaging board site in Oulu, Finland, and secure a cost-efficient wood supply to the site, where a new packaging board machine recently started ramping up production.
The total enterprise value for the transaction is up to €137m (£117m), a significant part of this being contingent upon achieving specific production milestones.
Stora Enso said the acquisition was expected to gradually generate synergies of approximately €15m annually once Junnikkala’s new sawmill in Oulu is fully operational. The Junnikkala sawmills products will complement Stora Enso’s wood products portfolio.
Stora Enso’s annual wood procurement in Finland will increase by approximately 1.7 million m³ and the group’s total sawmilling capacity by 700,000m³.
Separately, Stora Enso is expanding its core packaging material offering with the launch of Performa Nova, a new folding boxboard (FBB) that the company said “combines high yield with exceptional performance”.
The new board is designed to meet the growing demand for renewable, recyclable, and efficient packaging in segments such as dry, frozen, and chilled food, chocolate, and confectionery.
Performa Nova is immediately available to customers for orders following the start-up of Stora Enso’s consumerboard production line in Oulu.
Performa Nova is produced using FiberLight Tec, Stora Enso’s “extensively tested and proven proprietary technology” that enables the creation of strong yet lightweight board.
The company said the result was higher material efficiency, which enabled more packages to be produced with less raw material, without sacrificing packaging strength or visual appearance.
“At the core of Performa Nova is a breakthrough in how we approach strength and sustainability. By leveraging our FiberLight Tec technology, we’ve been able to develop a product that supports brand owners’ and converters’ efficiency goals while maintaining the high standards required for protecting packaged products,” said Tuomas Puonti, vice president of product development at Stora Enso Packaging Materials.
The board is said to offer “excellent stiffness, box compression strength, and a smooth surface for high-quality printing”.
Performa Nova is engineered for food safety and can be combined with barrier coatings for enhanced protection. It is available in grammages from 200-315gsm.
In 2024, Stora Enso employed approximately 19,000 people, and the group's sales were €9bn.
