Caraustar Industries, Inc. Enters into Agreement to Sell Its Sprague Coated Recycled Board Mill to Cascades Inc.

ATLANTA -- Caraustar Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSAR) has entered into an agreement to sell the assets of Sprague Paperboard, Inc. to Cascades Inc. (CAS-TSX). The assets to be acquired by Cascades include Caraustar's coated recycled paperboard mill located in Versailles, Connecticut for $14.5 million USD. In addition, under terms of the agreement, Cascades will annually supply 30,000 short tons of coated recycled boxboard (CRB) to Caraustar's folding carton plants. The transaction is subject to approval from State of Connecticut environmental agencies and regulators, which approval process is expected to be completed within a month.

Michael J. Keough, president and chief executive officer of Caraustar, stated, "The sale of this facility is part of our previously announced transformation plan, which included the exit of noncore businesses and increased focus on the businesses which we are capable of growing and achieving sustained profitability. Caraustar's folding carton converting operations will continue to benefit from the state-of-the-art CRB produced at Sprague Paperboard through its supply agreement with Cascades."