FINNISH GROUP'S TAKEOVER OF UK PAPER LTD CLEARED BY COMMISSION.

The European Commission has cleared a deal giving Mets-Serla, the Finnish company specialised in products and services for the printing and packaging industries, total control over the paper production business of UK Paper Ltd in the United Kingdom. The news comes hard on the heels of the Commission's unconditional clearance on November 26 of the merger between Finland's Enso Oy and Sweden's Stora AB, two paper and liquid packaging producers which now form the largest paper and board concern in the world, controlling 75% of the European market alone.

In this latest case of concentration in the paper industry, Mets-Serla, which specialises in the production and marketing of printing and writing papers, paperboard, corrugated boards, packaging raw materials...