Cascades Inc. announces that it has reached an agreement to sell its Flexible Packaging plant activities to Five Star Holding ("Five Star") based in Houston, Texas. The $31 million transaction is effective immediately. Cascades' will retain ownership of the site real estate. Located in Mississauga, Ontario, Flexible Packaging is Cascades' only plant that manufactures printed flexible plastic packaging and films. The sale reflects Cascades' commitment to continuously advance its operations, commercial approach and business model, in order to deliver the most value to its customers. The Company has found a buyer with both the expertise and a broader asset network to realize the plant's growth potential. The Flexible Packaging operations employs 45 people, all of which will be retained by Five Star at closing. Cascades will work closely with Five Star to ensure a smooth ownership transition for employees, customers, and suppliers. The transaction includes a supply agreement between the two parties to ensure the continued production and supply of the flexible film that is used by Cascades' Tissue and Packaging sectors. Cascades announces the sale of its Flexible

Verso Corporation reported financial results for the first quarter of 2018, including net sales of $639 million, net loss of $2 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $41 million. "Verso had a good start in the first quarter of 2018, with sales revenue up 4 percent to $639 million, Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure) up 58 percent to $41 million, and Adjusted EBITDA margin up 2.2 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2017," said Verso Chief Executive Officer, B. Christopher DiSantis. "We continued to grow our specialty papers business, now 24 percent of total revenue, and are seeing the benefits of our SG&A cost improvement initiatives, with an improvement of $8 million versus the first quarter of 2017. Looking ahead, we have positioned Verso well to benefit from improved operating rates and are building a better business." Click Read More below for additional information.

UPM's goal is to develop, encourage and reward every employee in their work. UPM paid a total of EUR 51 million as short-term incentives to employees in 2020. The incentives were paid for the good 2019 results and for personal success in one's own work. The figures are outlined in the Annual Report that was published today. Over the last five years, UPM has paid nearly EUR 300 million in incentives to its employees. The incentives are mainly determined by the financial indicators, of which EBITDA is the most important. In addition, every employee can earn one-third of the incentive by the achievement of personal and/or team performance targets. Last year, UPM employees earned on average of 5.6%, or approximately EUR 3,200, additional income from the company's incentive schemes.