OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's Norske Skog (NSG.OL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is confident that an $830 million sale of its South Korean division will go through as planned, but its chief executive declined to say when he expected to close the deal.
"We believe the sale will be finalized, but as long as talks are going on, we cannot be 100 percent sure", Chief Executive Christian Rynning-Toennesen told the Reuters Paper Summit.
He added that two major requirements were fulfilled during the summer. "We got acceptance from the Korean competition authorities and from our lenders, but we are still in discussion with the buyers about some topics."
In June, the company announced it would sell Norske Skog Korea, consisting of two paper mills, to Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia and Shinhan Private Equity and would use the proceeds to reduce debt.
"We have spent a bit more time than we believed initially, but we are still within the overall time plan", the CEO said.
On June 23 the company said it expected the transaction to be closed in four to six weeks.
Rynning-Toennesen emphasised that the main objective for both Norske Skog and the buyer is "to find a solution to get this done".
He also said the company still hopes to sell its headquarters near the Norwegian capital. (Reporting by Camilla Knudsen and Terje Solsvik; editing by Rory Channing)
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