To the Shareholders and
Board of Directors of
Caraustar Industries, Inc.:

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of CARAUSTAR INDUSTRIES, INC. (a North Carolina corporation) AND SUBSIDIARIES as of December 31, 2000 and 1999 and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2000. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Caraustar Industries, Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2000 and 1999 and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2000 in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States.

Atlanta, Georgia
February 24, 2001
(Except for the subsequent financing information discussed in Note 5 as to which the date is March 22, 2001)

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