High tech acquisition marks Stora Enso Consumer Boards first step as a venture capitalist

According to Stora Enso Consumer Boards, the product development of fibre-based packaging requires a more dynamic and faster pace. One way to achieve that is through venture capital activities. Senior Vice President Ragnar Törner, who is responsible for Stora Enso Consumer Boards company acquisitions, says the goal is to select from the market the most promising companies - those which have a clear product concept and world-class packaging knowledge. Product concepts can be quickly developed through Stora Enso's R&D resources, and in this way create a strong knowledge cluster based on packaging boards.

The first acquisition, Activation Sweden AB, whose name will be changed to Stora Enso Activation AB reflects this expertise. Based near Stockholm, the company develops board based, high-quality cd and dvd packaging and develops the machine technology. The company has sold packaging machinery under licence to Germany, the UK, the US and Japan, among others. Activation developed the Discbox Slider (DBS) package and DBS Pac Master machine. It holds the patents for these packaging types and the related machine technology.

A business plan has been devised for Activation which would see the company to achieve a substantial share of the global cd packaging market within five years, which represents a significant tonnage of board. Today, almost fourteen billion discs are sold annually, and most are packaged in plastic jewel boxes. Activation's target markets are mainly manufacturers in the software and media industries.

"Activation focuses on those cd and dvd packaging segments in which board clearly brings added value. The intention is to utilise the company's packaging and technological know-how in other areas, for instance in pharmaceutical packaging. The most important thing is that we create competitive packaging concepts and business models that our end customers can utilise. Our venture capital activities are not intended to compete with our own customers," explains Törner.

Stora Enso Consumer Boards has not made public the acquisition price it paid for the company this spring, and it will refrain from commenting on its schedule of possible future acquisitions.

Fact:
DBS is made of durable cardboard, and its unique design allows graphics to be printed on any side. The package is lightweight, weighing only about one third of the total weight of a complete plastic jewel box. For this reason, the package is very well suited for direct marketing applications, for example. A CD (or two CDs), along with the booklet, can be automatically inserted by the DBS packing machine. The machine assembles inner and outer printed sleeves along with the CD and a booklet, if needed, into the 100 percent paperboard Discbox Slider, at an output of up to 50 per minute. Stora Enso has developed suitable board grades for each different DBS packaging type.

For further information, please contact:

Stora Enso Packaging Boards
Mr Ragnar Törner, Senior Vice President
Box 501
S-66329 Skoghall
SWEDEN
Tel: +46 54 51 40 01
Fax: +46 54 51 40 20
E-mail: ragnar.torner@storaenso.com