As reported in a stock exchange announcement of 7 February, Norske Skog has initiated a process for demerging most of the company's real property in Norway which is unrelated to paper production. The resulting property companies will be placed in a sub-group wholly owned by Norske Skogindustrier ASA, and the group balance sheet will not be affected by the transaction.
The most important properties are Klosterøya in Skien, the head office with the surrounding estate in Bærum and a farming and residential area in Trondheim.

 

Approval of the demerger has been given by the board and corporate assembly at meetings held today, with final approval scheduled for the annual general meeting on 12 April.
 
For legal reasons, Norske Skog cannot hold its own shares at the demerger date, which is expected to be in June 2007. The holding of own shares will therefore be sold in advance, with the clear intention of repurchasing a corresponding number of shares after the transaction has been completed. Norske Skog currently owns 631 731 of its own shares, but this figure will go down when the annual share sale to employees takes place during March.

Oxenøen, 1 March 2007

 

Norske Skog
Corporate communications