ATLANTA, Georgia. December 22, 1997 -- Georgia-Pacific Resins Inc. today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire a 50 percent shareholder interest in Resinkem (Pty) Limited, which is South Africa’s leading supplier of formaldehyde and urea formaldehyde adhesives used primarily by the manufactured board industry.

Georgia-Pacific Resins, the Chemical Division of Georgia-Pacific Corp., will be purchasing a 50 percent interest in Resinkem from AECI Limited, a major chemical manufacturer headquartered in Johannesburg. The closing of the transaction, which is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, is expected to take place in the first quarter of 1998.
Resinkem’s manufacturing site, located near Durban, has 70 employees and annual sales of about (US) $20 million.

“We are excited to expand our operations into South Africa through this joint venture,” said Pete Correll, Georgia-Pacific chairman and chief executive officer. “We have been looking for opportunities such as this to market our technology in areas of the world with accelerating growth in the building products industry.”

“Our adhesives technology fits very well with the requirements of the South African market,” said James R. Taylor, vice president of Georgia-Pacific’s Chemical Division. “Along with AECI, we will provide customers with more advanced technology that will result in greater efficiencies as well as improved product quality and performance.”

Georgia-Pacific is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors of building products, pulp and paper. Georgia-Pacific Resins is a market leader in chemical products for the building products and pulp and paper industries as well as other industrial manufacturing processes.

Media Contact:
Sheila Weidman (404) 652-6322