M-real Corporation Stock Exchange Release 29 September 2008

Metsäliitto
Group's subsidiary, M-real Corporation, has today, on  29
September 2008, 
signed  an  agreement to  sell  its  Graphic  Papers
Business Area to the 
South African Sappi  Limited for an  enterprise
value of EUR 750 million.  The
transaction consideration consists  of
EUR 500 million in cash and assumed
debt, EUR 200 million vendor loan
note from Sappi to M-real and  EUR 50 million
of newly issued  shares
in Sappi. After  the closing of  the transaction, 
M-real's net  debt
will decrease approximately by EUR 630 million.

The sale
comprises the Kirkniemi and Kangas mills in Finland, the
Stockstadt mill in
Germany and the Biberist mill in Switzerland, with
total capacity of 1.9
million tons. As part of the transaction,
M-real and Sappi have also entered
into a long-term agreement on the
supply of pulp and BCTMP and other smaller
services and supplies.

Of the Graphic Papers Business Area's units, the paper
mills in
Hallein, Gohrsmühle, Reflex and Äänekoski as well as the Husum
mill's
paper machine 8 will remain in M-real's ownership. The Äänekoski
paper
mill and the Husum mill's PM8 will after the closing of the
transaction
continue production for Sappi under a long-term contract.

M-real plans to
discontinue the production of standard coated fine
paper in the Hallein and
Gohrsmühle mills. As a result of this plan,
the coated fine paper capacity in
Europe is expected to be reduced by
approx. 0.6 million tons. M-real continues
to investigate various
options for the development of the Hallein mill with
selected
partners. M-real's intention is to develop Gohrsmühle and Reflex
mills
together as the speciality paper unit as well as to extend
uncoated fine paper
production in Gohrsmühle."We have taken a major step in our strategic review,
and we are very
satisfied to announce this deal. The transaction will
significantly
improve M-real's future prospects and is the first major step in
the
European paper industry consolidation in the 21st century. The
operating
environment of the industry will improve which will be
beneficial also for
M-real as a future shareholder in Sappi,"
comments Kari Jordan, Chairman of the
M-real Board of Directors, on
the sale of the Graphic Papers Business
Area.

The transaction is expected to reduce M-real's annual sales
by
approximately EUR one billion. The operating result of the units
included in
the transaction was about EUR 30 million negative in the
first half of
2008."M-real will now become a more profitable and clearly more focused
board
and paper company with a strong core in high-quality packaging
boards. The
transaction signed today shows our commitment to
improving the operating
environment of our industry as a whole.
M-real continues the strategic review
of its remaining paper
businesses. Also the internal corporate structure will
be reviewed
based on the new situation. The completion of this transaction
will
reduce our debt level and further improve our financial situation.
The
improvement of operating profit and reduction in financial costs
will have a
positive impact of approximately EUR 120 million on our
annual result before
taxes, based on the actual result in the first
half of 2008," comments Mikko
Helander, CEO of M-real, on the
company's future development.

The sale is
expected to be completed latest during the first quarter
of 2009 subject to
approvals by the Sappi's extraordinary
shareholders' meeting and the
competition authorities and the
implementation of Sappi's planned rights
offering. Sappi expects to
fund the cash portion of the consideration with the
proceeds of a
rights offering. Citigroup Global Markets Limited ("Citi")
and
JPMorgan Securities Ltd. ("J.P. Morgan") have provided Sappi with a
standby
equity underwriting letter for the entire EUR 450 million
rights offering. The
rights offering is expected to be launched after
receipt of approval from the
relevant anti-trust and competition
authorities.

M-real will classify the
units included in the transaction as assets
held for sale and will book an
impairment charge and non-recurring
costs of approximately EUR 225 million in
total in the third quarter
results of 2008. The elements of the transaction
consideration are
subject to minor changes due to adjustments of operating net
working
capital and net debt.

M-real will publish restated historical figures
before the
announcement of third quarter 2008 results.

Metsäliitto Group will
arrange a press conference (in Finnish) for
media in Espoo, Finland,
Revontulentie 6, today at 8 a.m. GMT/11 a.m.
Finnish time. Participating in the
press conference will be Chairman
of M-real Board of Directors, Metsäliitto
Group President and CEO
Kari Jordan, M-real CEO Mikko Helander and CFO Seppo
Parvi.

M-real will arrange a conference call and webcast for analysts today
at
11 a.m. GMT/2 p.m. Finnish time. Participating in the call will be
CEO Mikko
Helander and CFO Seppo Parvi. From the UK please dial +44
207 1620 177, from
Sweden +46 8 5052 0114, and from Finland +358 9
2313 9202. The live webcast can
be accessed at
http://qsb.webcast.fi/mreal/

M-REAL CORPORATION

Further
information:
Anne-Mari Achrén, CCO, Metsäliitto Group, tel. +358 10 465
4541
Juha Laine, VP, IR and Communications, M-real, tel. +358 10 465
4335





About Sappi Limited



A global leader in the pulp and paper
industry, Sappi Limited (listed
on the stock exchanges of Johannesburg, London
and New York),
headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, conducts its
business
through two business units, Sappi Fine Paper and Sappi
Forest
Products. Sappi Fine Paper operates in Europe, North America and
South
Africa, producing coated fine paper, uncoated graphic and
business paper as
well as speciality papers. Sappi Forest Products
owns or manages approximately
540,000 hectares of plantations through
Sappi Forests; has a fully integrated
pulp, packaging paper and
newsprint business through Sappi Kraft; and is a
world leading
producer of chemical cellulose used in the manufacture of
viscose
fibre through Sappi Saiccor. Sappi Trading operates a trading
network
for the international sales and distribution of Sappi products.
Sappi
has manufacturing operations in nine countries on four continents,
sales
offices in some 50 countries and customers in over 100
countries around the
world.










This document is not an offer of securities for sale in the
United
States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United
States
absent registration with the United States Securities and
Exchange
Commission or an exemption from registration. There will be no
public
offering of any securities in the United States, Japan, Australia
or
Canada.