Kvaerner Deals Twin-Wire Press to Sunds Defibrator

Sunds Defibrator, a member of the Finnish Rauma Corp., has bought Kvaerner Pulping's (Sweden) Twin-Wire Press technology for $2.3 million. In the deal, Kvaerner, part of the Anglo-Norwegian international engineering and construction group, conveys to Sunds all product rights to the Twin-Wire Press dewatering technology, used primarily with mechanical pulps and recycled furnishes. Sunds will also take on some of Kvaerner's staff in Montreal, Que.

The Twin Wire Press will broaden Sunds' product offering, especially in the groundwood specialty grade sectors such as supercalendered groundwood (SC), lightweight coated (LWC) papers and improved newsprint. The company announced that, with the acquisition, it will be focusing R&D efforts on mechanical pulping and recycled fiber using environmentally-friendly bleaching technology.

Less than a year ago, Kvaerner had sold its mechanical pulping business, allowing the company to increase its focus on "core activities." The Kvaerner pulping, recycling and dewatering division will concentrate on dewatering by providing screw press and disc filter technology, the company points out. The division will also supply system modules for recycled pulp, including dispersion units, pulpers, and dewatering equipment. Kvaerner will continue to serve its customers from Tranby, Norway; Laval, Canada; Charlotte, NC; Berg, Germany and Singapore.

Sunds is one of the world's leading suppliers of fiber technology for the pulp, paper and panelboard industries. The group's net sales in 1997 were FIM 3.3 billion, and it had 2,400 employees. The company's main production facilities are in Sweden and Finland, and it has sales offices and local distributors in nearly 50 countries.

In addition to Sunds Defibrator, Rauma's business groups are Timberjack (forest machines), Nordberg (rock crushing equipment), and Neles Controls (valves and flow control systems). In 1997, Rauma had net sales of approximately FIM 10.9 billion and about 10,000 employees. Operations outside Finland account for some 91% of sales.