Pactiv sells Waynesville plant, Pine Bluff facility for $110 million
Pactiv’s Waynesville facility will soon be under new management, if the deal goes through. Cory Vaillancourt photo
Pactiv Evergreen, owner of the now-shuttered paper mill in Canton, announced last week that it had agreed to sell its Pine Bluff, Arkansas paper mill and an extrusion facility off Howell Mill Road in Waynesville to a South American company for $110 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, if traditional closing conditions are met and foreign antitrust regulators approve.
Throughout the process of closing the Canton paper mill, which finally took place last June, Pactiv maintained that it was conducting a companywide strategic alternatives review, specifically exploring options for the Waynesville and Pine Bluff facilities in the wake of the Canton shutdown. The sale agreement concludes that process, according to a press release issued by Pactiv July 12.
“This transaction is consistent with our disciplined focus on value creation, and we expect it to reduce the capital intensity of our business, improve our cash flow profile and further strengthen our balance sheet,” said Michael King, Pactiv’s president and CEO.
The Pine Bluff paper mill produces liquid packaging board and cup stock for food and beverage packaging. The Waynesville facility provides extrusion capacity for Pine Bluff’s liquid packaging board.
Brazilian paper company Suzano, the prospective buyer, has agreed with Pactiv to supply both the board and the extrusion capacity to Pactiv after the deal is complete. Pactiv said Suzano has also offered to keep Pine Bluff and Waynesville workers employed.
The largest pulp manufacturer in the world, Suzano is valued at roughly $15 billion. The company supplies pulp to other manufacturers but also makes its own line of hygiene products, including paper towels, napkins, diapers, wipes and, under license from Kimberly Clark Corporation, Kleenex brand tissues.
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Seemingly keen to expand in the North American market, Suzano announced in early May it would make a $15 billion play for Memphis-based International Paper, however unnamed sources cited by Reuters said that was likely to be rejected as insufficient. Weeks later, it was.
Suzano was also rumored to be in the mix of potential buyers for the Canton mill before St. Louis-based Spirtas Worldwide inked a letter of intent with Pactiv, but that deal hasn’t gone down yet.
According to a July 12 release by BusinessWire, Suzano’s Executive Vice President of Paper and Packaging Fabio Almeida, the transaction was in line with the company’s overall strategy.
“We are entering the North American market as a competitive producer of paperboard, taking on quality assets that are strategically well-located from an operational and logistical perspective, and opening new opportunities for growth,” Almeida said. “As a business with 100 years of history behind us, we see this deal as an investment into our future and we look forward to building a long-lasting and positive relationship with the teams at Pine Bluff and Waynesville, as well as the local communities around both facilities.”
— Cory Vaillancourt, Politics Editor
