(News from RISI) The German tissue giant WEPA has parted with its Fabbriche di Vallico tissue mill near Lucca in Italy.
The firm said it signed a contract for the sale of the site to the Lucca-based trader EUROTEC.
The purchase price and further details of the planned transaction were not disclosed.
The Fabbriche di Vallico mill houses one tissue machine with a capacity of around 18,000 tpy and employs 16 people.
According to WEPA, the sale is part of its strategy to adapt its production capacity in Italy to the market situation in the country.
EUROTEC so far has been active as a commercial enterprise for parent reels.
With the purchase of the Fabbriche di Vallico paper machine it is now moving into the production of semi-finished products for sanitary paper production.
“With EUROTEC we found a buyer that will continue to run the mill with its 16 current employees under their present contract terms,” WEPA said in a statement.
“Regarding our responsibility for all WEPA employees, this was the most decisive criterion for the sale [of the mill] to EUROTEC,” it added.
According to WEPA, the new owner plans to invest in the modernisation of the Fabbriche di Vallico mill and intends to secure employment there in the long term.
Production at the site is reportedly expected to resume in a few weeks.
WEPA announced in August 2012 that it would sell two of the five tissue mills of its subsidiary WEPA Lucca in a move to adapt its capacity in Italy to the market situation. The sites in question were the Fabbriche di Vallico and Piano della Rocca mills in the Lucca area.
The 31,000 tpy Piano della Rocca mill was sold to Roto-cart, a firm that had been active in the conversion and sale of tissue products for more than 30 years, in April last year.
