DIXIE PRINTING & PACKAGING L history

Based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Fort Howard was founded in 1919 by Austin Edward Cofrin.

It was formed in 1931 upon the merger of North Star Mill, North Star Egg Case Company, Carey Straw Mill, H.T. Cherry Company, and Indiana Board and Filler Company.

He was replaced as president by J.N. Andrews, who had joined Ohio Boxboard as a salesman in 1936.

PCA was formed in 1959 through the merger of three established packaging companies.

For 1960 PCA had sales of $138 million.

Also in 1961 PCA was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Nevertheless, the company pressed forward with its expansion plans, and in 1962 PCA acquired container plants in Baltimore, San Antonio, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

In 1963 PCA president United States Goodspeed was elected vice-chairman of the company's board of directors.

Paperboard prices stabilized somewhat in 1964, and PCA was able to gain ground, posting its best earnings in nearly a decade.

In 1965 PCA was acquired in a stock deal by Tennessee Gas Transmission Corporation, now known as Tenneco Inc.

Founding of James River in 1969

In 1971 James River acquired the St Regis Paper Company's specialty mill in Pepperell, Massachusetts.

By 1972 PCA had annual revenues of $286 million, which represented about 9 percent of Tenneco's total.

On March 16, 1973, the company went public, selling 165,000 shares of common stock.

In 1975 James River acquired J-Mass from Weyerhaeuser.

1976: The firm is found guilty of violating antitrust laws by a federal grand jury.

In 1977 James River bought a failing mill in Jay, Maine, from International Paper.

In 1978 Halsey and Williams purchased Scott Graphics from Scott Paper Company, renamed it James River Graphics, and started producing film coatings.

By 1979 it had $96 million in sales.

In 1980 Gulf + Western sold its 80 percent interest in Brown Company to James River in return for cash and James River stock.

By the end of 1981 industrial products only accounted for one-quarter of James River sales; communication and packaging papers, now a more stable market, made up the remaining 75 percent.

In 1982, Halsey and Williams once again used a stock-and-cash deal to double the size of the company; they bought the Dixie/Northern division, makers of Dixie cups; Northern toilet paper; Bolt, Brawny, and Gala towels; and folding cartons.

In 1983 PCA acquired much of Diamond International Corporation's molded fiber products operation.

In April 1984 James River broke onto the international scene with the purchase of GB Papers in Scotland.

In 1985 PCA purchased A&E Plastics, a major producer of rigid plastic containers for use in the foodservice industry.

In 1986 the company acquired EZPor Corporation, a company specializing in convenience cookware and disposable baking pans for the retail market.

James River's chief financial officer, David McKittrick, told Financial World, June 2, 1987, "When you peeled back the layers of complexity imposed on Dixie/Northern by American Can, you saw that the companies were in fact doing quite well and that business was actually sort of on a roll."

By 1988 the company was so big that the Federal Trade Commission blocked a proposed purchase of a South African-owned flexible packaging operation, with fears of reducing competition in that field.

In 1989 PCA acquired Carenes, SA, a Spanish molded fiber operation, and Dahlonega Equipment and Supply Company, an East Coast supplier of egg, produce, and seafood packaging.

In April 1990 the company announced a 13.1 percent decrease in income from the previous year.

In May 1991 the company sold its specialty papers business for $337 million in cash and preferred stock to AEA Investors, a management-led investor group, which then founded Specialty Coatings Group Inc.

A resulting charge of $305.3 million was recorded in 1992's fourth quarter.

During 1993 PCA focused on improving productivity rather than continuing to expand, returning a profit of $139 million despite a slight drop in revenues.

In March 1994 James River sold its 50 percent interest in Coastal Paper Company, a producer of lightweight papers based in Mississippi.

In October 1995 Miles L. Marsh was brought on board as CEO, and in the following January became chairman as well, replacing the retiring Williams.

Improved operational efficiency and Marsh's bolstering of marketing efforts helped the company post healthy 1996 net income of $157.3 million.

Soon after completion of the merger in August 1997, Fort James took charges of $45.2 million for early extinguishment of debt and $53.9 million for merger-related costs.

During 1999, the containerboard and corrugated packaging business was sold to Madison Dearborn Partners Inc. under the PCA name.

During 2000, PCA went public on the New York Stock Exchange.