Stockholm, 2011-05-02 18:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
RusForest AB (publ) ("RusForest" or the "Company") has completed the acquisition of Nord Timber Group ("NTG") by way of an issue in kind of 29,437,529 RusForest shares in exchange for shares in and claims against the companies included in the NTG group. The new issue is subject to registration with the Swedish Companies and Registration Office.
About NTG
NTG is a forestry and sawmilling company with large forestry assets located in the Arkhangelsk region in North-Western Russia. NTG has forest leases exceeding 1.1 million hectares containing high quality Spruce and Pine resources similar to those found in northern Sweden. Additionally, NTG owns a sawmill in the region, which is being upgraded to reach an annual capacity of 80,000 m³, and a planing mill in the city of Arkhangelsk.
NTG's forest leases are FSC certified and the company is well-established in the region with newly built forest roads and its own railway terminals giving increased control of logistics and costs. The forest leases have an annual allowable cut ("AAC") of 807,600 m³.
As per 31 December 2010, the total assets of the NTG Group amounted to SEK 237 mln.
RusForest following the acquisition of NTG
Through the acquisition of NTG, RusForest controls an AAC of approximately 2.8 million m³ - positioning the Company as one of the largest forest-controlling companies in Russia in terms of cutting rights. As the Company's AAC in the Arkhangelsk region now amounts to just under 1 million m³ - which is enough to cover the future raw material requirements of the sawmill at LDK-3 - the planned production capacity in the region can be increased. As a result, RusForest will be established as a true global player, with a sawn wood output expected to grow over the next 4-5 years to around 800,000-850,000 m³ per annum, backed up by 2.7-2.9 million m³ of annual harvesting from the Company's own forest leases.
Ownership structure following the acquisition
As the Company has previously noted in its press release dated 19 April 2011, two of NTG's previous owners - Capricorn Forest Fund K/S and Greater Europe Deep Value Fund II - have sold their total of 25,641,744 consideration shares in RusForest to a number of Swedish and foreign investors. The trade was conditioned on the completion of the Company's acquisition of NTG, which has now taken place. Thereby, based on information provided by Öhman, the new shareholder structure of the Company following the NTG acquisition is as set out in the table below.
| Shareholder | Number of Shares | Shareholding (%) |
| Vostok Nafta | 28,165,209 | 29.7% |
| Foreign institutional investors | 9,891,744 | 10.4% |
| East Capital funds | 9,300,000 | 9.8% |
| Alecta | 9,009,490 | 9.5% |
| JP Morgan (Libra Advisors) | 7,868,467 | 8.3% |
| Sfaffan Rasjö | 4,306,069 | 4.5% |
| Lillevrå Såg AB | 2,621,700 | 2.8% |
| Avanza Pension | 1,596,694 | 1.7% |
| SIX SES AG | 1,308,472 | 1.4% |
| Martin Hermansson | 1,294,185 | 1.4% |
| EFG Private Bank SA | 1,260,000 | 1.3% |
| Zenit Fund | 1,159,745 | 1.2% |
| Others | 17,178,274 | 18.0% |
| TOTAL | 94,960,049 | 100.0% |
For further information please contact:
Martin Hermansson, CEO, phone: +7 903 015 64 65, +7 985 921 92 32
or
Anders F. Börjesson, deputy CEO, phone: +46 709 19 08 58
About RusForest AB (publ)
RusForest is forestry and sawmilling company operating in Eastern Siberia and the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. The Company controls long term forest leases with an annual allowable cut of approximately 2.8 million m³, and utilizes these resources to produce a wide range of sawnwood products. Eastern Siberia is renowned for its Pine and Larch of exceptional quality, while the Arkhangelsk Region in northwest Russia has high quality spruce and pine forests similar to those found in northern Sweden.
RusForest's goal is to develop into a leading independent integrated forestry and sawmilling company in Russia, with an annual harvest of 2.7-2.9 million m³ and an annual sawnwood production of 800,000-850,000 m³ during the coming four years.
RusForest AB’s Certified Adviser on First North is E. Öhman J:or Fondkommission AB.
