Middle East Paper (Mepco) is pushing ahead with an SAR 1.8 bn containerboard paper line plant, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. The sovereign wealth fund (PIF) acquired a 23% stake in the paper company back in January 2024, making it the largest shareholder.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of 450k tons and is expected to generate an returns of c. 14.5%. Construction of the fifth paper line is slated to begin by 3Q 2024, with commercial production to begin in 4Q 2027.

Where the money’s coming from: The paper manufacturer will finance the project from its own resources including the proceeds of the equity sale to the PIF, along with long-term loans from local lenders.

Who’s it buying from? MEPCO signed a 36-month engineering and supply contract with Germany-based Voith to manufacture, supply and supervise machine installation, it said in another disclosure.

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