Bowater announces completion of Star Forms sale.

GREENVILLE, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8, 1996--Bowater Incorporated (NYSE:BOW) today announced completion of the sale of its converting business known as Star Forms Incorporated (formerly Bowater Communications Papers Incorporated) to CST Office Products, Inc. for $80 million, including $60 million in cash and $20 million in subordinated notes.

Star Forms Incorporated, which operates five converting plants, is a producer and marketer of continuous stock computer forms for impact and high-speed laser printers, as well as other business communications papers. Star Forms markets these products through a network of approximately thirty distribution centers to service customers in major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S.

CST Office Products, Inc. is a privately held corporation headquartered in Wheeling, Illinois, producing a variety of paper products sold throughout North America. The combined entities will be led by Keith C. Koski, President and Chief Executive Officer of CST Office Products, Inc.

Bowater Incorporated, headquartered in Greenville, SC, is the largest producer of newsprint in the U.S., and also makes coated and uncoated groundwood papers, bleached kraft pulp and lumber products. It has five paper mills and 3.6 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and Canada. Bowater Incorporated common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, U.S. regional exchanges, the London Stock Exchange and the Swiss Stock Exchanges.

CONTACT: Bowater, Greenville

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