Maritime Paper Products and Cascades Form Joint Venture

Maritime Paper will be the majority owner of the operation that will serve Canada's Atlantic provinces.

Cascades Inc., headquartered in Kingsey Falls, Quebec, and Maritime Paper Products Ltd. (MPPL), headquartered in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, have announced an agreement between Cascades’ Norampac division and MPPL to create a joint venture for their corrugated board activities in Canada’s Atlantic provinces. The transaction is subject to the approval of the Competition Bureau of Canada and financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

If the joint venture is approved, Norampac’s operations in Newfoundland and Moncton, New Brunswick, will be integrated with those of MPPL, ensuring future growth for the joint venture and a wider range of products available for customers, the company says. Norampac will supply containerboard, while MPPL will oversee management of the converting operations.

MPPL will be the majority owner of the new joint venture, which will operate under the name of Maritime Paper Products Ltd. Partnership. 

The two companies say the joint venture will ensure a competitive and long-term supply of quality corrugated packaging available to the Atlantic market.

Marc-André Dépin, president and CEO of Norampac, says, “This new venture aims to provide customers with an improved product line and a higher level of service through the combined strengths of Norampac and MPPL. This will advance our objective to modernize our production equipment and continue innovation in terms of our product offering. We are convinced this new venture with MPPL will allow us to increase our efficiency and sales in order to remain at the forefront of containerboard packaging in this market.”

Until the closing of the transaction, Norampac's Newfoundland and Moncton plants will continue to operate under the current management within the Norampac Group.