Westvaco Selling Liquid Packaging Operations

Westvaco Corp. signed a letter of intent to sell its liquid packaging business to Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc., headquartered in Asheville, NC. The sale, which will be finalized next month, will include Westvaco's liquid packaging plant in Richmond, VA.

"Over the past decade, Westvaco's liquid packaging business has developed a reputation for high-performance packaging in a variety of rapidly growing niche markets including juices,'' said John A. Luke, Jr., Westvaco chairman and CEO. While we have been successful in introducing advanced packaging for liquid packaging applications, the business has become less compatible with our longer term growth strategy. This sale reinforces our commitment to create a platform for enhanced growth in global packaging markets, a decision which resulted from our recent strategic review."

During the past two months, Westvaco completed two significant acquisitions for the company's Packaging Resources Group. Last December Westvaco acquired a bleached paperboard mill in Evadale, TX, from Temple-Inland, Inc., and, earlier in January, it purchased the Mebane Packaging Group, a supplier of pharmaceutical and personal care packaging.