Separating the Swedish forest assets was probably the easiest and fastest route. Still, I wonder why the Swedish forests weren’t sold to Tornator—in which Stora owns 40%—either for cash or through a share swap. After that, Tornator could have been listed, and Stora’s stake distributed to shareholders. The demerger would likely have taken an estimated extra year or so compared to the current timeline, which hardly would have been an issue.
The synergies certainly wouldn’t be massive, but you’d think administrative costs per hectare might decrease a bit. A merger of the two would have created a larger, more diversified, and slightly lower-risk company, which could perhaps justify somewhat higher valuation multiples.
If Bergslaget gets off to a strong start on the stock exchange, maybe a merger with Tornator will start being tossed around in someone’s Excel models.