Over the last two decades, Metsä Tissue has expanded extensively beyond the Nordic countries into Central and Eastern Europe.
In 1998, Metsä Tissue acquired two German tissue paper manufacturers, Papierwerke Halstrick GmbH and Strepp GmbH & Co. KG Hochkoppelmühle. This further added Mola® and Fasana® to the brand portfolio, and the core market area expanded beyond the Nordic countries to continental Europe north of the Alps, a region populated by over 200 million consumers.
The company was listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 1998. In 2003 ownership of all shares was transferred to M-real Corporation.
Further expanding its foothold on the Continent, Metsä Tissue acquired a majority shareholding in two Polish tissue paper manufacturers, Warszawskie Zaklady Papiernicze S.A. (WZP) in 1997 and Zaklady Papiernicze w Krapkowicach S.A. in 2002. In 2003, a major shareholding was acquired in Krapex, a Polish tissue products converter. These acquisitions have made Metsä Tissue the largest supplier of tissue paper products and away-from-home tissue paper products in Poland.
In 2004, M-real Corporation sold 66% of Metsä Tissue’s business to Metsäliitto Cooperative and 34% to Finnish insurance companies.
In 2006, Metsä Tissue became the market leader in Slovakia and the Czech Republic with the acquisition of Tento a.s., a Slovakian tissue company.
In 2008, local converting of consumer and away-from-home products was launched in Russia.