The Perlen paper mill of the industrial Group CPH Chemie + Papier Holding is the sole survivor of the once proud Swiss paper industry. 40 years ago, the country still had 32 paper mills. Since the industrial holding Cham has left the paper business and become a real estate developer, and only waste paper is processed in Utzenstorf (BE).

Since the industrial holding company Cham left the paper business and became a real estate developer, and only recovered paper is processed in Utzenstorf (BE), the mill in Perlen, Lucerne, is the only place in Switzerland where newsprint and magazine paper is still produced on a large scale.

However, in times of falling paper prices - the price of newsprint has almost halved since 2009 - even the last manufacturer has it anything but easy; this despite operating one of the most modern paper mills in Europe.  Now the company wants to focus primarily on the chemical and packaging sectors via acquisitions.

"In the current environment, we will neither invest in a new paper machine nor take over a press paper manufacturer," with these words, Group CEO Peter Schildknecht stated the strategic direction during a visit at the end of March.

Change in the shareholder structure

Since its foundation, the owner family, which is now in its eighth generation, has controlled the company. Through an intermediate holding company (Uetikon Industrieholding, 49.9%) and through the estate of Ella Schnorf-Schmid (7.2%), it holds a majority. However, this will soon change. At the extraordinary general meeting on June 4, it is on the agenda that the shareholders of the intermediate holding company will in future hold a direct stake in CPH.

As a result, the family will control only about one third of the capital. Around 30% will be held by a group of shareholders led by Peter Schaub, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and another 3% by an individual member of the family. "The family will remain the anchor shareholder," Schildknecht says. However, the higher free float of the shares should benefit tradability and make them more attractive to public shareholders.

Read the full article in the NZZ here.