<B>AssiDomaen Discussing Sale of Corrugated Division</B>

AssiDomaen AB, Sweden's largest publicly traded forest owner, is in talks to sell its corrugated & containerboard division, scrapping an earlier plan to split its industrial and forest units into separate businesses.

According to Bloomberg, discussions are being held with ``several parties but at present it is too early to say what the results of these will be.” Cardboard boxes generate about half of AssiDomaen's sales.

The company is lagging Svenska Cellulosa AB and Jefferson Smurfit Corp. by capacity in Europe.

Last month AssiDomaen agreed to merge its Karlsborg and Skaerblacka plants with a paper packaging factory owned by Stora Enso Oyj. The two companies plan to sell shares in the new venture, named Billerud, no later than 2002. AssiDomaen will distribute its stake among existing shareholders, exiting its kraft paper operation.

In August, AssiDomaen completed the sale of two sack mills and a food-packaging business to Austria's Frantschach Packaging AG. The company also wanted to sell its cartonboard unit, though it shelved that plan in June as it couldn't find a buyer.