White & Case Advises ITOCHU Corporation in Its €472 Million Acquisition of Metsä Fibre Shares

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised ITOCHU Corporation, a leading trading house based in Japan, on its acquisition of shares in Metsä Fibre Oy, a Finnish pulp producer.

ITOCHU Corporation has agreed with Metsä Group to acquire 24.9% of the shares outstanding in Metsä Fibre Oy, one of the world’s largest softwood pulp producers, which primarily sells to the European and Asian markets. The value of the share acquisition is €472 million. The transaction will complete following the necessary approvals from the German competition authority.
Timo Airisto, a partner in White & Case’s Helsinki office, said: “We were extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work for ITOCHU in this transaction. It is one of the largest foreign direct investments in Finland over the past decade.”
The White & Case team was led by M&A partner Timo Airisto (Helsinki) and competition partner Börries Ahrens (Hamburg), with support from counsel Suzanne Innes-Stubb (Helsinki), and associates Anna Huilaja (Helsinki), Jochen Baier (Hamburg) and Kiira Tuohimaa (Helsinki).