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The Nineties:
A focus on diversification |
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On the eve of the nineties decade, Cascades became daring when it created Cascades Énergie. This subsidiary controlled a brand new cogeneration plant powered by natural gas, the first in Canada, and whose mandate was to provide the energy required by all the Cascades mills in Kingsey Falls. The success of this project enabled Cascades to invest further in the prospective energy sector with the acquisition of
Boralex in 1995. Today, Boralex's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange in which Cascades holds a 34% interest.
Cascades Énergie paved the way for a series of acquisitions in which Cascades' activities were largely diversified. The purchase of Rolland and Paperboard Industries Corporation in 1992, Perkins Papers in 1995, Provincial Papers in 1997 and, that same year, the creation of Norampac in partnership with Domtar, led to the restructuring of Cascades into five distinct corporate groups whose operations were focused as much in the sector of specialized packaging as in those of containerboard, tissue paper, fine papers and boxboard.
On an international level, Cascades' expansion continued in Europe with the acquisition of the boxboard mill in Arnsberg (Germany) in 1997 and the start-up of a sheeting operation in Wednesbury (England) in 1998.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Cascades Web site. Here, you will find an overview of our operations and, I hope, the answers to any questions you may have about any of the companies that make up the Cascades Group. I am sure that you will notice the diversity of our value-added products as well as the entrepreneurial spirit of our people, a direct result of the importance we give to the human factor within our organization. Make yourself at home, and feel free to contact us if you require any additional information. 
