Paris, October 31, 2007

Antalis, a fully-owned subsidiary of Sequana Capital, closed the acquisition
of the Map Merchant Group from M-Real, creating the #1 in paper distribution in Europe.

Sequana Capital (Euronext Paris : VOR) today announced that its fully-owned subsidiary, Antalis, closed the acquisition of the Map Merchant Group, the paper merchanting division of M-Real. Antalis therefore becomes the #1 in paper distribution in Europe.

This transaction has been cleared by the European Commission upon Antalis’ commitment to divest one of the two subsidiaries of Map in the U.K. Antalis, who anticipated this decision, committed to divest the UK merchant paper Premier Paper, while retaining McNaughton with whom Antalis UK now shares a #2 position in the U.K. paper distribution market.

« Through Map acquisition and the integration of talented teams, Antalis created the #1 in paper distribution in Europe. This major step in our strategic development will allow us to expand our services to more customers while creating even more value for our shareholders. » stated Pierre Darrot, Chief Executive Officer of Antalis.

As anticipated, the transaction of Euro 382 million has been financed through a capital increase of Antalis by Sequana Capital of Euro 180 million, and additional debt of Antalis. The capital increase of Antalis by Sequana Capital has been partly financed by the disposal of 5.3% of Permal Shares and the result of the earn-out clause of Permal.

Pascal Lebard, Chief Executive Officer of Sequana Capital, added : « We are very pleased with the closing of this external growth transaction, in a four months period since the deal was announced. This acquisition will allow Antalis to create the undisputed European leader and improve its medium term growth and profitability targets. »

Read the complete press release about Antalis' acquisition of Map Merchant.