Graz, Austria and Charleston, SC May 31, 2017.  International technology Group ANDRITZ has signed a contract for acquisition of Paperchine, Inc., owned by AstenJohnson Holdings Ltd., headquartered in Charleston, SC.  Paperchine and its subsidiaries has approximately 180 employees with manufacturing facilities in the USA (Rockton, IL, Springfield, MA, and Tucker, GA), Canada (Vancouver), Thailand (Bangkok) and Germany (Maintal).The purchase is subject to approval by antitrust authorities and is expected to be closed by end of June, 2017.

Paperchine is a global supplier of highly engineered equipment and services to the paper industry’s leading manufacturers. For ANDRITZ, the acquisition of Paperchine strengthens its presence in North America and adds new products, such as horizontal GapFormer, SigmaPro headbox, dewatering elements (former Johnson Foils), moisturizer (former VIB) and related service to its offerings for its international clients.  “We are very excited about this complementary acquisition that extends the Andritz product range for paper and board machines”, said Michael Pichler, SVP Andritz Global Division Manager.

AstenJohnson CEO, Kevin Frank, commented, “the sale of Paperchine fits with our strategy to focus growth in technical textiles including Paper Machine Clothing, Advanced Fabrics and Nonwovens.  Our friends and associates at Paperchine have successfully positioned Paperchine as a leading global brand.  They will have the opportunity to continue to grow with the support of Andritz, while building on the strong foundation they established as a part of the AstenJohnson family.”

The two companies are excited to be working together on a formal marketing alliance with Paperchine to better support paper industry customers.  More details will be forthcoming as the agreement is finalized.

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Press release and photo available for download Press release and photo are available for download at www.andritz.com/news.  For further information, please contact:

Michael Buchbauer
Head of Corporate Communications
michael.buchbauer@andritz.com
www.andritz.com

Daniel Hédou
Global Marketing Manager
daniel.hedou@astenjohnson.com
www.astenjohnson.com

The ANDRITZ GROUP

ANDRITZ is a globally leading supplier of plants, equipment, and services for hydropower stations, the pulp and paper industry, the metalworking and steel industries, and for solid/liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors. The publicly listed technology Group is headquartered in Graz, Austria, and has a staff of approximately 25,500 employees. ANDRITZ operates over 250 sites worldwide.

About ASTENJOHNSON

ASTENJOHNSON is a global manufacturer of pulp & paper machine clothing, advanced and filtration fabrics, filaments, and nonwoven fabrics for filtration, automotive, cure-in-place piping and composites. As a supplier to the paper industry since 1790, it has a thorough knowledge of technical textiles and processes – and knows how to apply its expertise to help customers be more profitable. The company employs approximately 2,000 people. Its corporate headquarters is in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER is a leading global supplier of equipment, systems, and services for the production and processing of all types of pulps, paper, tissue, and cardboard. The technologies cover the processing of logs, annual fibers, and waste paper; the production of chemical pulp, mechanical pulp, and recycled fibers; the recovery and reuse of chemicals; the preparation of paper machine furnish; the production of paper, tissue, and board; the calendering and coating of paper; as well as treatment of reject materials and sludge. The service range includes modernization, rebuilds, spare and wear parts, service and maintenance, as well as machine transfer and second-hand equipment. Biomass, steam, and recovery boilers, as well as gasification plants for power generation, flue gas cleaning plants, plants for the production of nonwovens, dissolving pulp, and panelboards (MDF), as well as recycling plants are also allocated to the business area.