UPM Abandons Plan to Sell Docelles Mill

Staff

Helsinki, Finland 03 December 2013 -- UPM’s mill in Docelles, France, is not going to be sold in the near future, the company is now pursuing the option to close it down.
 
A spokesperson from UPM told EUWID that the company was no longer pursuing the option of selling the mill and was instead planning to close it. The company had been in talks with several interested parties, mostly recently with one single party, whom the company spokesman declined to name. In various press reports, that company was said to be Pocheco, a French producer of paper envelopes. The name of the holding company Canopée Industries was also mentioned in this context. UPM declined to comment on the reports.
 
However, the spokesman added that the possibility of selling the mill is not being entirely ruled out. This might still be possible at a later point in time, but at the moment the company was preparing for a closure, he said.
 
The company said one of the reasons for its decision was that the liability risks for UPM were too great in the case of a potential sale if the business was unable to continue operations after the transaction. At the moment, UPM is negotiating with employee representatives to work out a social plan.