News Release

Japan Pulp and Paper Company Limited (JP) hereby announce the acquisition of an American paper merchant by its consolidated subsidiary Japan Pulp and Paper (U.S.A.) Corp.

The JP Group’s long-term business management strategy, "Innovation JP 2020", identifies increased investment in offshore management resources and the expansion of overseas business activities beyond the 42 offices and facilities already in place as key corporate goals to be achieved by the Group by the year 2020. In accordance with this long-term management strategy, the Group has already established facilities in 32 strategic locations throughout China and the greater Asian region concerned with a range of activities, including the wholesale trade of paper and paperboard products, the manufacture and sale of containerboard, the sale of raw materials used in the production of recycled paper products and the manufacture and production of household paper commodities. Outside of Asia, the Group is actively promoting its trading business in target markets throughout the regions of North and Central America, Russia and greater Europe, Oceania and South Africa particularly by expanding its sales in areas such as specialty papers, communication papers and related products through its existing offices in America, Mexico, Germany, Russia and Australia.

Conversely, Gould Paper is a major independent paper merchant headquartered in New York City, with a vast global sales and supply network predominantly trading in printing papers, paperboard and raw materials used in the manufacture of paper through ten offices and facilities located across central and eastern America together with overseas offices in England, France, Finland and New Zealand.

Almost no overlapping of the Groups’ established sales regions, suppliers and customer bases, means that Gould Paper can provide a local sales base from which JP, with its extensive range of products from a distinguished list of Japanese and Asian paper manufacturers, will be able to further extend its sales throughout Europe and America. Furthermore, JP will be able to fill any existing needs not already satisfied by its Asian product range with niche products from America and by taking advantage of its existing network, will be able to further extend the reach of American products throughout Asia. With the expected synergies to be gained from the partnership together with the potential for business expansion and an even higher level of customer service, the obvious benefit to be added to the corporate value of both Groups resulted in the decision to combine business forces in this share acquisition.

Through the significant global sales and supply base that this alignment has realized, the Japan Pulp and Paper Group, including Gould Paper Corporation, will strive to provide its customers with an even greater enhanced and more comprehensive service.