Blue Ridge Completes Purchase of Westvaco's Liquid Packaging

Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc. (Asheville, NC) has completed its purchase of Westvaco Corp.'s liquid packaging business in Richmond, VA. The purchase, announced in January, will strengthen Blue Ridge's position as a leading player in the liquid packaging industry.

The purchase adds about 100 employees and two state-of-the-art offset web presses to Blue Ridge's DairyPak operations. It will enable DairyPak to strengthen its capabilities as a high-end packaging producer of juice and milk cartons. The purchase will also allow DairyPak to provide a wider array of products.

This is the first acquisition for Blue Ridge, which was created in May 1999 with the purchase of seven plants from Champion International Corp. Its employees own 45% of the company; KPS Special Situations Fund (New York) owns the remaining 55%.

"This acquisition reinforces DairyPak's position as an industry leader and adds value to our employee-owners and customers," says Gordon Jones, Blue Ridge's president and CEO.