Georgia-Pacific Announces Insulair Acquisition

Atlanta, GA — Georgia-Pacific Corp. today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement for its subsidiary, Fort James Operating Company, to acquire Insulair Inc., a privately held manufacturer of premium insulated paper cups and lids. Under this agreement, Georgia-Pacific will integrate the Insulair business and the Vernalis, Calif., facility into its Dixie® business. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close next month following regulatory approvals, were not released.

Founded in 1996, Insulair introduced its innovative, patented, triple-wall insulated paper cup one year later. The technology used to make the Insulair® cup eliminates the need for polystyrene foam cups, cup sleeves or double cupping. The cups are sold domestically in all 50 states and exported to customers in more than 15 countries around the world.

"This acquisition is a strategic component of our overall North American Consumer Products growth plans," said Michael C. Burandt, executive vice president - North American Consumer Products, Georgia-Pacific. "Insulair has truly innovative products manufactured by skilled teams. We look forward to welcoming these employees into the Georgia-Pacific family."

Dixie President Sean Fallmann added, "This deal will create a great opportunity for us to better serve our customers by significantly enhancing our position in the cup business. Insulair's cup is a premium and differentiated product that is a nice complement to our existing Dixieproduct line and will appeal to both our foodservice and retail customers. In addition, the company's technology provides Dixiewith a strong platform for further innovation."

Insulair continues to lead technological advances in paper cup design with the recent introduction of the EcoSmart Cup™ - the world's first insulated cup to use post-consumer recycled material. The insulating middle layer is 99 percent post-consumer recycled paper, giving the whole cup a minimum of 12 percent recycled paper content.

SOURCE: Georgia-Pacific