A spokesman for the Smurfit Consortium, Ian Halliday, who will become chairman of the Whakatāne Mill, said the consortium looked forward to developing a more competitive operation to support customers in New Zealand and around the world.
"We believe that the Whakatāne Mill has a very bright future as the only folding boxboard mill in Oceania, and we intend to invest heavily in the mill to support both our customers and New Zealand's forest products industry," he said.
The mill would stop producing liquid packaging board and would focus high-quality folding box board, carrier board and food service board, all of which are currently manufactured at the mill.
Whakatane Mill Limited general manager Juha Verajankorva said the agreed acquisition by the Smurfit Consortium was a positive outcome and represented a new and exciting era for the mill.
All senior management will remain with the new owners.
"This is a welcome development for Whakatāne and the wider Bay of Plenty region," Verajankorva said.
"It's also great news for the New Zealand paper packaging sector and we appreciate the positive support of our workforce, our suppliers and customers in working towards this outcome which has been welcomed by all.
"Our preference was always for a sale of these assets so that they could continue to be productive," Verajankorva said.
"It took until almost the final whistle, but this is a satisfying outcome."
Dermot Smurfit and Ross George are both listed as 33 per cent shareholders of Power Paperboard Ltd, recently registered at the New Zealand companies office, along with Swiss-based investor Raymond Alan Dargan.
