Metsä-Serla (M-real since 2001) was established with the merger of Metsäliiton Teollisuus Oy (the industrial branch of Metsäliitto Cooperative) and G.A. Serlachius Oy on 31 December 1986. At the same time, Metsä-Botnia, a bleached pulp producer became a subsidiary of Metsä-Serla.
The merger unified two old Finnish forest industry companies. Metsäliitto Cooperative had been established as a wood exporting company in 1934 and apothecary G.A. Serlachius founded a groundwood mill in Mänttä in central Finland already in 1868.
Growth through acquisitions
The 1990s was a period of extensive growth for Metsä-Serla and during its first decade, the company acquired several production units around Europe. Among others, Holmen Hygiene, a Swedish tissue paper and hygiene products company, was acquired in 1989 and Kemi Oy, a Finnish pulp and liner board company, in 1990.
Metsä-Serla purchased the Kyro paperboard mill in Finland in 1995 as well as Papierfabrik Biberist in Switzerland and Simpele paperboard and paper mill in Finland in 1997. The business operations of UK Paper Plc, including the Sittingbourne and New Thames paper mills, were purchased in 1998.
The fine paper companies of Modo Paper in Sweden and Zanders Feinpapiere in Germany became part of Metsä-Serla in 2001. In the same year, Metsä-Serla changed its name to M-real Corporation.
M-real closed down its Silverdalen paper mill in Sweden in 2002 and sold the business operations of Savon Sellu mill, a producer of fluting, in 2004. M-real had become the sole owner of Kemiart Liners by acquiring UPM-Kymmene and Metsäliitto Cooperative’s holdings in 2004.
Complexity reduction
M-real’s new BCTMP mill in Kaskinen, Finland, was inaugurated in 2005. In 2007, Metsä-Botnia’s Uruguay pulp mill in Fray Bentos started up.
M-real sold Pont Sainte Maxence, a speciality paper mill in France, in 2006. The company closed the Sittingbourne mill in the United Kingdom and the Wifsta mill in Sweden. It also shut down two paper machines in the Gohrsmühle mill in Germany and Tako mill’s BM2 in Finland in 2007. In the same year, the company sold its carton plants in Finland, Hungary and Belgium as well as its Map paper merchanting business.
M-real started a profit improvement and complexity reduction programme in November 2007. As a part of this, it was decided in 2008 to shut down both M-real’s BCTMP mill in Lielahti and PM2 at the Kangas mill in Finland. In the same year, the company also sold its Graphic Papers business area.
In February 2009, a profit improvement programme was launched with an annual target of EUR 80 million. The production of the standard coated fine paper at the Hallein and Gohrsmühle mills was closed down in April 2009.
In October 2009, M-real and Metsä-Botnia, its associated company, together with Metsä-Botnia’s other owners Metsäliitto Cooperative and UPM-Kymmene agreed about the new ownership structure of Metsä-Botnia and the divestment of Metsä-Botnia's Uruguayan operations to UPM.
In December 2009, a profit improvement programme for 2010 was launched with an annual target of EUR 80 million including e.g. plans to permanently close Alizay pulp mill in France and two speciality paper machines at the Reflex mill in Germany.
In January, 2011 M-real renewed its management and reporting structure to better reflect the company’s strategy and the focus on fresh forest fibre paperboard. M-real's business areas are Paperboard and Paper and Pulp.