CPH Group, the parent company of Swiss newsprint and magazine paper producer Perlen Papier, intends to focus on the growing chemicals and packaging business in the future.
Perlen Papier's mother CPH Group has announced the intention to separate its publication paper business from its chemicals and packaging activities and create two independent companies. CPH Group AG will be clearly focused on the chemistry and packaging business and its growth potential in global niche markets, and will continue to be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, according to CPH.
The paper and the real estate business in Perlen will be separated from the group and subsumed under the Perlen Industrieholding AG, which will be traded over the counter. The separation is said to be implemented in the form of a dividend in kind, whereby each existing CPH shareholder will automatically receive shares in Perlen Industrieholding AG, the group explained.
"The fast-growing Chemistry and Packaging divisions, which are well positioned in global niche markets, contrast with the regional paper business, which focuses on cost leadership and is more volatile. The fluctuations in the paper business make it increasingly difficult to predict the development of earnings at Group level," CPH said.
CPH Group emphasises the existing last-man-standing strategy of Perlen Industrieholding AG in the paper market, which is to be consistently implemented. Perlen Papier operates two paper machines with an installed capacity of 560,000 tpy of newsprint and coated and uncoated magazine paper. In 2023, the paper segment generated sales of CFH262m and EBITDA of CFH37m.
The shareholders of the CPH group will vote on the planned transaction at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 20 June 2024.
