As part of its forest land optimisation, Stora Enso has signed an agreement to divest forest assets located in southern Sweden to the forestry fund Silvestica Green Forest AB. The total area of forest land in the transaction is approximately 5 200 hectares. The selling price is approximately SEK 940 million (EUR 90 million).
The transaction is in line with Stora Enso’s policy of divesting non-core assets. The forest areas are located geographically far away from Stora Enso’s other forest lands, which limits the scale benefits. The forest land divestment has no impact on Stora Enso’s nearby Hylte Mill, which uses other wood supply sources for its production. The forest land corresponds to less than 0.5% of Stora Enso’s total forest land area in Sweden.
The cash consideration for the divestment is EUR 90 million. Stora Enso will record a gain of approximately EUR 70 million, based on the assets’ historical cost, in the Forest division’s operational EBIT for the first quarter of 2021. The gain under IFRS will be approximately EUR 30 million, based on the estimated IFRS book value at the disposal date.
The transaction is expected to be closed during the first quarter of 2021.
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