Dive Brief:
- Norcross, GA-based WestRock Co. has agreed to buy paper recycler SP Fiber Holdings Inc. and its 48% interest in Green Power Solutions of Georgia (GPS) for a deal worth $288.5 million. WestRock began operations in July as a merger between paper recyclers and product makers MeadWestvaco Corp. and Rock-Tenn Co.
- SP Fiber makes recycled containerboard and kraft and bag paper, and has mills in Dublin, GA and Newberg, OR.
- Renewable energy company GPS provides energy to Georgia Power and steam to the Dublin paper mill.
Dive Insight:
WestRock expects the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, to grow its earnings in the second half of fiscal 2016.
"The Dublin and Newberg mills will balance the fiber mix of our mill system, and the addition of kraft and bag paper will diversify our product offering," WestRock CEO Steve Voorhees told Waste 360. "We expect to apply our operating capabilities to improve the cost structure of both mills. As a result, our mill system will be better positioned to serve the increasing demand for lighter weight containerboard and kraft paper."
Megadeals have been the trend in the paper recycling and paper products industry.
In February, Atlanta-based Caraustar Industries Inc. completed its purchase of paper recycler The Newark Group, based in Cranford, In 2013, GP Harmon Recycling of Jericho, NY purchased The Highlands Group Inc.'s plastics recycling facility in Elizabethton, TN.
