Suominen to acquire Ahlstrom's Paulinia plant in Brazil

Suominen acquired the Home and Personal business area of Ahlstrom in November 2011, but the transfer of the Brazilian unit of the acquired business was prolonged due to delay in receiving approval from the authorities and consequent renegotiations.

The plant to be transferred to Suominen is located in Paulínia, Brazil, approximately 120 kilometers to northwest from São Paulo. It is the only nonwovens plant utilizing modern spunlace technology in manufacturing wiping products in the country, and the plant is technically capable to supply also industrial nonwovens.

Paulínia plant is built in 2008 and employs approximately 40 persons. All employees will be transferred to Suominen in connection with the closing of the deal, which is expected to take place by the end of February 2014.

“Finalizing the acquisition of the Paulínia plant marks an important milestone for Suominen. The deal provides us a foothold in the South American markets where we see very exciting growth opportunities. We further strengthen our position as the global leader in the nonwovens for wipes, as we will become the only manufacturer of nonwovens for wipes with plants in Europe, North America and South America.

Suominen will become truly global, which enables us to serve our globally operating customers even better than before. We are extremely happy to welcome the Paulínia team to Suominen and really look forward to capture the market opportunities with the local team of experts, having an excellent understanding of the market”, says Nina Kopola, President & CEO of Suominen Corporation.

“We are very pleased that the transfer of Ahlstrom Paulínia and consequently the divestment of our wipes business to Suominen will now be completed,” says Jan Lång, President & CEO of Ahlstrom Corporation.

Suominen