RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- James River Corporation (NYSE: JR)
announced that shareholders overwhelmingly approved the merger of James River
and Fort Howard Corporation (Nasdaq: FORT) at a special meeting today.
    In related actions, James River shareholders also approved changing the
name of the company to Fort James Corporation, increasing the authorized
number of common shares to 500 million, expanding the Board of Directors to
fifteen members, and reserving additional common shares issuable under the
company's stock incentive plan.
    In a separate meeting, shareholders of Fort Howard also overwhelmingly
approved the merger.  The merger is expected to be finalized on Aug. 13, 1997.
    "Shareholder approval marks the final step in the coming together of these
two great companies," said Miles L. Marsh, James River's chairman and chief
executive officer, "and we are pleased at how well the organizations worked
together to complete this merger in an extraordinarily short period of time."
    James River Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Va., is a leading
marketer and manufacturer of paper-based consumer products, packaging, and
business, printing and converting papers.  The second largest worldwide
producer of tissue products, James River markets such leading brands as
Quilted Northern bathroom tissue, Brawny paper towels, Vanity Fair napkins,
and Dixie cups and plates in North America, and Lotus bathroom tissue, towels,
and facial tissue in Europe.  The company also markets Quilt-Rap sandwich
wrap, Qwik Wave microwave packaging, and Eureka! and Word Pro copy papers.
James River's current annual sales rate is approximately $5.6 billion.
    Today's news release, along with past releases from James River, is
available by fax, at no charge, by calling 800-758-5804, ext. 457350.  You may
access James River's corporate-wide site at Internet address
http://www.jamesrivercorp.com.

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