UPM divests building materials merchant Puukeskus Oy

Nordic Business Report-June 22, 2006-UPM divests building materials merchant Puukeskus Oy
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The Finnish forest products group UPM-Kymmene Corporation (UPM) said on Thursday (22 June) that it has agreed to sell building materials trading company Puukeskus Oy.

The company is being acquired by its management together with private equity company Triton.

The exact sales price was not disclosed, but UPM said that it expects to make a capital gain of some EUR90m on the deal.

The deal is part of UPM's strategy to focus on its core business.

Puukeskus has 650 employees and reported sales of EUR394m in 2005. The company has 28 branches in Finland and one in Estonia.

One euro (EUR) is worth approximately 0.69 British pounds (GBP).

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