Public Affairs Department
Tim Laatsch
Telephone: (715) 422-4023, or
Scott Deitz
Telephone: (715) 422-1521
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2000
CONSOLIDATED PAPERS SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE MERGER WITH STORA ENSO
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WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. - Consolidated Papers, Inc. (NYSE: CDP)
announced today that its shareholders approved the merger of Consolidated Papers
with a subsidiary of Stora Enso Oyj. The merger is scheduled to close tomorrow,
Thursday, August 31, 2000.
Holders of Consolidated Papers shares have the right to elect to
receive either $44.00 in cash or 3.621 Stora Enso American Depositary Shares
(ADSs), each representing one Stora Enso Series R share, for each Consolidated
Papers share they hold at the effective time of the merger. Shareholder
elections are subject to proration as described in the Proxy
Statement/Prospectus, dated July 26, 2000, mailed to Consolidated shareholders
in connection with the shareholder meeting.
Election and transmittal forms, together with the applicable
Consolidated Papers share certificates, must be received by Citibank, N.A., the
exchange agent for the merger, by 5:00 p.m. New York City time on Friday,
September 8, 2000. Consolidated Papers shareholders who do not submit an
election and transmittal form with their Consolidated Papers share certificates
by the deadline will receive an amount in cash and/or a number of Stora Enso
American Depositary Shares determined in the manner described in the Proxy
Statement/Prospectus.
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Stora Enso will announce by news release on Monday, September 11, 2000,
the number of Consolidated shares for which cash and ADS elections were received
and the proration factor, if any, to be applied to such elections. The news
release also will describe the consideration to be paid in respect of
Consolidated shares as to which no election was received prior to the election
deadline. No fractional Stora Enso ADSs will be issued in the merger.
Consolidated shareholders who would otherwise have been entitled to receive a
fraction of an ADS will receive a cash payment as described in the Proxy
Statement/Prospectus.
Stora Enso ADSs will begin regular trading on the New York Stock
Exchange on Wednesday, September 13, 2000, instead of September 12, which had
been previously announced. The trading symbol will be SEO.
Consolidated Papers has retained Georgeson Shareholder Communications
Inc. as information agent to assist shareholders in the merger. Shareholders may
call them at (800) 223-2064 (toll free) in the United States or Canada or, for
banks, brokers and persons outside the United States or Canada, at (212)
440-9800 (collect) to request additional copies of the Proxy
Statement/Prospectus or other documents and to ask any questions about the
merger. If you have questions as to how to make an election as to the form of
consideration you would like to receive in the merger, call Citibank, N.A., the
exchange agent, at (800) 308-7887.
For more information, read the Proxy Statement/Prospectus dated July
26, 2000, which Stora Enso has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
as part of a Registration Statement, because it contains important information.
The Proxy Statement/Prospectus was sent on or about July 28, 2000, to
stockholders of Consolidated Papers, Inc. seeking their approval of the proposed
merger of Consolidated Papers with a subsidiary of Stora Enso. Free copies of
the
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Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents filed by Consolidated Papers (as
well as certain documents filed by Stora Enso) with the Commission can be
obtained at the Commission's Web site at http://www.sec.gov. Stora Enso's
Registration Statement on Form F-4 (File No. 333-12342) also may be obtained
from the Commission's public reference room located at 450 Fifth Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20549, or at one of the Commission's other public reference rooms
in New York, New York, and Chicago, Illinois. Please call the SEC at
1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference rooms. The
Registration Statement, including documents incorporated by reference therein,
also may be obtained from Stora Enso by contacting Stora Enso Oyj, Attention:
Maija Harsu, Investor Relations, Kanavaranta 1, P.O. Box 309, FIN-00101
Helsinki, Finland, and/or Consolidated Papers, Inc. by contacting Consolidated
Papers, Inc., Attention: Tim Laatsch, Corporate Communications, 231 First Avenue
North, P.O. Box 8050, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin 54495-8050. Consolidated
Papers, Inc., its directors, executive officers and certain other members of
Consolidated Papers management and employees may be soliciting proxies from
Consolidated Papers shareholders in favor of the transaction. Information
concerning the participants is set forth in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus.
Consolidated Papers, Inc. is one of North America's largest producers
of coated and supercalendered printing papers for the printing and publishing
industries. In addition, the company is one of the leading producers of
specialty papers and manufactures paperboard and paperboard products. To learn
more about Consolidated Papers, visit its Web site at
http://www.consolidatedpapers.com.
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Stora Enso Oyj, domiciled in Finland, is one of the world's leading
forest product companies. Core businesses include magazine papers, newsprint,
fine papers and packaging boards. In these product areas, Stora Enso holds a
leading global market position. Stora Enso also conducts extensive sawmilling
operations. To learn more about Stora Enso, visit the company's Web site at
http://www.storaenso.com.
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