UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
Current Report
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of The Securities Act of 1934
Date of Report: September 5, 2000
WESTVACO CORPORATION
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
DELAWARE 1-3013 13-1466285
(State or other) (Commission (I.R.S. Employer
jurisdiction File Number) Identification No.)
of incorporation)
299 PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10171
(Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code (212) 688-5000
ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
Westvaco issued a news release on September 5, 2000, a copy
of the news release is filed as Exhibit 99.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
Exhibit 99 News release issued by the Company on September 5, 2000
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed
on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
WESTVACO CORPORATION
By _______________________
John W. Hetherington
Vice President and
Secretary
Date September 5, 2000
EXHIBIT INDEX
Page No.
Exhibit 99 News release issued by the Company
on September 5, 2000 3
Exhibit 99
Media Contacts: Investor Relations Contact:
William P. Fuller III Roger A. Holmes
(212) 318-5250 (212) 318-5288
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WESTVACO ADDS TO GLOBAL PACKAGING BUSINESS WITH EUROPEAN TRANSACTION
Company sees synergies and growth opportunities in deal with Alfred Wall AG
NEW YORK, NY, September 5, 2000 - Westvaco Corporation
(NYSE: W), today announced a definitive agreement to
acquire a majority interest in Alfred Wall AG, a leading
European supplier of consumer packaging based in Graz,
Austria. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
"Wall is an outstanding fit with our expanding global
consumer packaging business," said John A. Luke, Jr.,
Chairman and CEO of Westvaco. "The company became a leader
in European consumer packaging markets by building superior
manufacturing capabilities and emphasizing quality and
innovation in its products and services."
Mr. Luke added that the majority of Wall's customers
do not currently buy packaging from Westvaco. "Wall not
only extends our customer and geographic reach, it provides
us with a base from which to significantly expand as a
packaging supplier to multinational companies in the
pharmaceutical, cosmetics and personal care markets."
Westvaco currently serves those markets from U.S.
operations.
Wall is a closely held business that has six packaging
plants: one in Austria, one in the United Kingdom, two in
Germany and two in Poland. The company operates as two
separate business units, general packaging and tobacco
packaging. General packaging markets include food,
confectionery, cosmetics, consumer electronics, and
personal care. Wall has a strong customer base in Western
Europe and the promising Eastern European markets, as well
as customers in the Middle East and Africa. Westvaco's
consumer packaging plant in the Czech Republic will closely
coordinate its activities with the Wall organization,
giving the Czech plant access to broader sales and
marketing support in general and tobacco packaging markets.
Wall employs about 900 people and has annual sales of
about $120 million. With Wall, Westvaco will have 42
consumer packaging and printing operations, including
facilities in 10 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, Austria,
Brazil, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Poland, the
Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.
All of Wall's plants have modern printing and package
converting equipment and a reputation for producing high
quality products. Wall is considered a technology leader
in Europe where it is the only paperboard printer and
packaging converter with advanced prepress and in-house
cylinder manufacturing capabilities. With nearly 500,000
square feet of production space and diverse equipment,
Wall's plant in Graz, Austria, is one of the premier
consumer packaging plants in Europe. Wall's other plants
are located in Crimmitschau and Dresden, Germany, Bydgoszcz
and Krakow, Poland, and Slough, United Kingdom. The plant
in Krakow is operated as a joint venture with Mayr-Melnhof
Karton AG.
"Becoming part of a larger network of packaging
operations will create opportunities for us to offer
additional products and services to Wall's customers, as
well as to Westvaco's customers," said Mag. Alfred Wall,
CEO of Alfred Wall AG. "We look forward to taking
advantage of those opportunities and adding to Westvaco's
ability to provide a unique blend of packaging solutions."
Alfred Wall will continue in an executive management
position of Alfred Wall AG and Dr. Georg Wall will continue
as Chairman of the company's Supervisory Board. "The Wall
brothers have done a magnificent job in establishing their
company as one of Europe's premier suppliers of consumer
packaging," said Mr. Luke. "We are fortunate to have their
experience, relationships, market knowledge and skills as
we grow our business in Europe."
Westvaco's transaction with Wall is subject to routine
regulatory review, which Westvaco anticipates will be
completed in two to three months. The company expects that
Wall's operations will have a neutral effect on its
earnings for about a year before becoming accretive.
The arrangement with Wall is Westvaco's latest action to
strengthen the company's position as a provider of
packaging solutions to global consumer product companies.
In July, Westvaco acquired IMPAC Group, Inc., a leading
North American and European supplier of packaging for
entertainment products, cosmetics and health and beauty
aids. At the same time, the company formed its new global
Consumer Packaging Group, combining IMPAC's operations with
the pharmaceutical and health care packaging operations of
Mebane Packaging, acquired in January 2000, and its
previously existing consumer packaging business serving
food, tobacco and other consumer markets. The new consumer
packaging platform is part of the broader Packaging
Resources Group that was formed last year through the
combination of all Westvaco packaging operations. Other
recent steps to extend Westvaco's packaging business
include the acquisition of assets from Agaprint Embalagens,
one of Brazil's leading suppliers of consumer packaging,
and the closely held DuBOIS Holdings Limited. DuBOIS is
the global licenser and European manufacturer of the
world's top-selling DVD package.
Westvaco Corporation (www.westvaco.com), headquartered in
New York, NY, is a major producer of packaging, paper and
specialty chemicals. The company serves customers in more
than 70 countries with operations in the United States,
South America and Europe.
Certain statements in this document and elsewhere by
management of the company that are neither reported
financial results nor other historical information are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
information includes, without limitation, the business
outlook, assessment of market conditions, anticipated
financial and operating results, strategies, future plans,
contingencies and contemplated transactions of the company.
Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of
future performance and are subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause or
contribute to actual results of company operations, or the
performance or achievements of the company, or industry
results, to differ materially from those expressed, or
implied by the forwardlooking statements. In addition to
any such risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed
elsewhere herein, risks, uncertainties and other factors
that could cause or contribute to actual results differing
materially from those expressed in or implied by the
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
competitive pricing for the company's products; changes in
raw materials, energy and other costs; technological
developments; fluctuations in demand and changes in
production capacities; changes in economic growth in the
U.S. and international economies, especially in Asia and
Brazil; government policies and regulations, including but
not limited to those affecting the environment and the
tobacco industry; and currency movements.
