The SCR Group wants to divest Someş Dej

Businessman Ştefan Vuza, which controls Someş Dej through the Servicii Comerciale Române (note:Romanian Commercial Services) group, wants to sell the cellulose and paper maker due to the crisis. The group is currently negotiating a partnership with an investor which will take over the aforementioned company.

According to a press release, "the SCR group has made the strategic decision to withdraw in the coming period from the cellulose and paper business, and will focus on the other four divisions of the group". In order to sell Someş Dej, the SCR group has initiated a share capital increase of 25 million Euros, which will be completed by December 20th, and "the new investor will pay the company"s debts in full". The new investor also notified the SCR that it wants to make a major investment in the paper maker which would allow it to increase its production capacity from 70,000 tons to 350,000 tons a year. The SCR group will however, remain a minority shareholder of the paper maker.

The SCR group includes five divisions - chemical products (Chimcomplex), cellulose and paper (Someş), special equipment (Caromet and Uzuc), textile (Iaşitex and Nova Textile Bumbac) and the machinery and device production division (Sinterom and Contactoare).

In the first half of 2010, Someş Dej had losses of 11.2 million lei, up almost four times compared to last year"s similar period.

The company A1 Impex, part of the SCR group, holds 62.6% of the shares of Someş Dej, whereas SIF Banat-Crişana (SIF1) holds 13.11% of the shares.