Paper Excellence Given Approval to Complete Acquisition of Leading Brazilian Pulp Producer Eldorado Brasil Celulose

Paper Excellence (“the Company”), one of the largest global producers of pulp and paper, today announced that the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) arbitration court has ruled in favor of Paper Excellence thereby enabling Paper Excellence to proceed with the full acquisition of the Brazilian-based pulp producer Eldorado Brasil Celulose (“Eldorado”). The acquisition will be completed under the terms of the agreement between Paper Excellence and J&F Investimentos that was entered into in 2017. Paper Excellence presently owns 49.41% of Eldorado. With the completion of this acquisition, Paper Excellence will strategically enhance its international presence in the pulp and paper markets in the Americas and its ability to serve customers across the globe.

Eldorado, with headquarters in Três Lagoas, in Mato Grosso do Sul, is one of the world’s largest pulp producers.

“We welcome Eldorado’s employees and all of its stakeholders to Paper Excellence. We are a strong and experienced organization fully dedicated to maximizing our businesses’ potential in the pulp and paper markets. Our immediate focus with Eldorado will be to integrate it seamlessly into the Paper Excellence Group, including evaluating how best to invest in expanding its capacity in a timely manner”, says Claudio Cotrim, Managing Director of Paper Excellence in Brazil.

Paper Excellence Group operates in the manufacture of high yield pulp and paper. Since its founding in 2007, the Group has been growing rapidly through strategic acquisitions globally. With the incorporation of Eldorado Celulose, Paper Excellence will have approximately 7,000 employees worldwide and an annual production capacity of 5.3 million tons of pulp and paper.