Sonoco Acquires U.S. Paper Mills

Sonoco signed a definitive agreement to purchase U.S. Paper Mills Corp., a privately held company headquartered in De Pere, Wis.

U.S. Paper Mills' principal businesses are the production and sale of lightweight paperboard for conversion into cores, composite cans and tubes, and the production of paper cores.

Completion of the purchase, subject to regulatory approval, is expected in the third quarter. U.S. Paper Mills Corp. had sales of approximately $70 million in 2000.

Sonoco currently purchases from U.S. Paper less than 5 percent of its paperboard requirements for conversion into composite cans. U.S. Paper has mills at De Pere and Menasha, Wis. The two mills have a combined capacity of 130,000 tons.

Additionally, U.S. Paper has core and tube converting facilities at De Pere; Oakdale, Minn.; and Jacksonville, Ill.

This acquisition would bring Sonoco's total number of paper mills globally to 30, with 42 paper machines and a total global capacity of approximately 1.75 million tons. Almost all of Sonoco's converted paper products are made with paperboard produced from recovered paper of which the company collects approximately 2 million tons annually on a global basis.