The British newspaper Sunday Times claimed at the weekend that the Finnish-Swedish forest product group Stora Enso is considering a takeover bid of EUR 6.5 billion for paper company Mondi, which is part of the UK mining giant Anglo American PLC.
According to the Sunday Times, the demerger of Mondi, which makes packaging materials and fine paper, is being prepared as part of a broader restructuring at Anglo-American and is allegedly set to take place within the next 12 months.
The London-based paper writes that "Stora Enso is sounding out advisers about a possible bid for Mondi, although it has yet to decide to make a formal offer". The paper adds that so far Stora Enso has made no approach to Anglo-American.
Stora Enso declined to comment officially on the newspaper report. However, an anonymous source close to the company said that Stora Enso is not considering bidding for Mondi, as such a move would be in conflict with Stora's current strategic plans.
