Suominen and Ahlstrom have entered into agreement on the sales of the entire stock of the Brazilian Ahlstrom Fabricação de Não-Tecidos Ltda to Suominen. Formerly, the unit was part of Ahlstrom’s home and personal business area. The enterprise value of the transaction is €17.5 million ($24mn).

Suominen acquired the home and personal business area of Ahlstrom in November 2011, but the transfer of the Brazilian unit of the acquired business was prolonged due to delay in receiving approval from the authorities and consequent renegotiations.

The plant to be transferred to Suominen is located in Paulínia, Brazil, approximately 120 kilometers northwest from São Paulo. The company says it is the only nonwovens plant utilizing modern spunlace technology in manufacturing wiping products in the country, and the plant is technically capable to also supply industrial nonwovens. The Paulínia plant was built in 2008 and employs approximately 40 people. All employees will be transferred to Suominen in connection with the closing of the deal, which is expected to take place by the end of February 2014.

“Finalizing the acquisition of the Paulínia plant marks an important milestone for Suominen,” says Nina Kopola, president and CEO of Suominen Corporation. “The deal provides us a foothold in the South American markets where we see very exciting growth opportunities. We further strengthen our position as the global leader in the nonwovens for wipes, as we will become the only manufacturer of nonwovens for wipes with plants in Europe, North America and South America.”

“We are very pleased that the transfer of Ahlstrom Paulínia and consequently the divestment of our wipes business to Suominen will now be completed,” says Jan Lang, president and CEO of Ahlstrom Corporation.