Holmen is involved in other deals too. The company sold its Domsjo sulfite pulp mill to a private consortium, Domsjo Fabriker, consisting of pulp and paper players and financial backers. Holmen is also acquiring Papelera Peninsular from the Spanish company, Unipapel. The Spanish mill is located south of Madrid and comprises a newsprint mill that was commissioned in the middle of 1998 and two associate companies for collecting wastepaper.
Production is based solely on recycled paper.
Currently, Holmen is looking for more expansion opportunities in both Europe and North America. In Europe, Stora Enso is one of the two largest producers of lightweight coated, supercalendered and coated fine papers. Consolidated Papers has similar strengths in North America in these three grades. While Jukka Harmala, chief executive officer of Stora Enso, calls the acquisition a first major step toward the successful execution of the company's North American strategy, some critics say Stora Enso is paying too much to further develop its manufacturing base in North America. He estimates that net sales in his business area at SCA will double in the next two years.