IRVING TO BUY SCOTTIES IN U.S.
By Adnews Staff
Irving Tissue of Saint John, New Brunswick has made a deal to buy Scotties tissues in the U.S. from Kimberly-Clark Corp. of Dallas. This has led to speculation that Irving may take over Scott Paper Ltd., the Canadian division of U.S.-based Scott Paper Co. Scott is the maker of Scotties tissues. Rather than divest itself of some of its own brands in Canada, Kimberly-Clark put its 51% interest in Scott Canada up for sale in April. The divestiture was required by federal officials as a condition of Kimberly-Clark keeping Scott in Canada. In the U.S., Kimberly-Clark was required to sell the Scotties tissue business in order to receive final approval from the Justice Department to take over the Scott parent company, under an agreement made late last year. Irving bought Scotties to diversify in the U.S. The Canadian company already markets its own Majesta brand of tissues in Canada, New England, the Caribbean and Europe, and also makes private label tissues for the U.S. Scotties advertising in Canada is done by the Toronto office of J. Walter Thompson.