<B>G-P Nears Sale of Mills</B>

Georgia-Pacific, which is looking to complete the acquisition of Fort James, is reportedly close to selling off a number of its paper mills, possibly to a European-based operation.

The company earlier had announced that it was looking to sell off facilities that overlap with facilities of Fort James, a paper company that G-P is in the process of acquiring. The company has not publicly stated which of its facilities would be sold, although there have been a number of reports listing a host of mills that are rumored to be those fitting the profile of companies to be sold. With Fort James having a significant presence in the commercial tissue industry, there are expectations that the commercial tissue operations owned by G-P will be sold.

Several sources say that SCA, a Finnish company, is close to announcing that it is acquiring the company’s Wisconsin Tissue mill locations. Wisconsin Tissue has locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, New York and Arizona, among others.

Although sources at Georgia-Pacific or SCA would not confirm nor deny SCA as the buyer, several sources say the SCA is a name bandied about as the most likely suitor.

SCA is a large European paper company, with locations in more than 40 countries. The company is one of the largest consumers of recovered fiber in Europe. The company makes tissue and towel products, as well as packaging and printing and writing paper.