OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Troubled Norwegian paper maker Norske Skog on Monday announced the sale of its closed Steti mill in the Czech Republic to the international paper and pulp group Mondi. No terms were announced.
Norske Skog shut down the Steti mill at the end of May and laid off all remaining employees by the end of June as part of an ongoing restructuring and debt reduction drive. That effort included the separate sale of its South Korean subsidiary for 3.2 billion Norwegian kroner ($621.4 million) in June to Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia and Shinhan Private Equity.
Norske Skog did not release the sale price for the Czech plant, but said it was based on the value of fixed assets and equipment there. Mondi currently produces such paper products as industrial bags and container board at the same industrial site as the Norske Skog plant.
"Mondi will not resume newsprint production at the former Norske Skog Steti mill and has acquired the site as part of a rationalization of the existing mill site," a news release from the Norwegian company said.
Norske Skog has repeatedly announced production cuts, layoffs and restructuring over the past two years as the paper industry adapts to falling demand and prices, coupled with higher costs. In the first quarter of this year it announced a net loss of 966 million kroner ($188 million).
Mondi, based in Johannesburg, South Africa and London, has about 35,000 staff in 35 countries.