Crown Vantage Announces Sale of Timber Holdings for $36 Million.OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 1997--Crown Vantage Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :CVAN CVAN Attack Aircraft Carrier (Nuclear Propulsion) CVAN CINCPAC Voice Alert/Automated Net ) announced today the sale of approximately 108,000 acres of primarily hardwood timberlands located near its mills in New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. and the Southeast United States. Total proceeds to the company from the two separate transactions is about $36 million, which the company has used to pay down long-term bank debt. These forests have accounted for less than 5 percent of the wood fiber required by Crown Vantage pulp mills at Berlin, N.H., and St. Francisville, La. "Sale of these lands is consistent with our long-planned commitment to divest non-strategic assets," said Ernest S. Leopold, chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "In the ongoing review of our portfolio, we determined that sale of these assets is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders as we de-leverage, reduce interest expense and increase our balance sheet flexibility." The New England parcels, which have been sold to the Hancock Timber Resource Group, a timberland investment unit of John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., and Yankee Forest LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , include about 83,200 acres of woodlands in New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). and Maine. They will be managed by Wagner Forest Management Ltd. of Lyme, N.H. The Mississippi and Louisiana properties, which include 24,600 acres of cottonwood plantation lands, have been sold to Van Development and Van Petroleum. The sale includes a long-term wood supply contract for Crown Vantage's pulp mill at Berlin and assurance that the timberlands will continue to be managed consistent with the American Forest and Paper Association's Sustainable Forestry Initiative The Sustainable Forestry Initiative is a program to certify forests to insure they are being managed in a sustainable manner. SFI was started in 1994 by members of the American Forest and Paper Association. . In the South, Crown Vantage retains ownership and management of the fast-growth plantation cottonwoods that supply its pulp and paper mill in St. Francisville. The company also retains rights to the silvicultural technology for the short-rotation cottonwoods. Crown Vantage manufactures about one million tons of papers annually for printing, publishing and specialty packaging and converting applications at its 11 mills in the United States and Scotland. Additional information on Crown Vantage can be found on the Internet at www.crownvantage.com . CONTACT: Crown Vantage Neil Stuart, 510/874-3423 (CFO See Chief Financial Officer. ) Katie Cutler, 510/874-3458 (Corp. Communications) Brad Wyman, 603/342-2500 (in New Hampshire) or Hancock Timber Resource Group Henry Whittemore, 207/621-4020 or Wagner Forest Management Ltd. Tom Colgan, 603/795-2002 |
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