Another shake-up in the forest industry in northwestern Ontario.
The Paper Excellence Group and Resolute Forest Products have announced their intention to sell the Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill.
On July 6, the Paper Excellence Group through Domtar entered into an agreement with Resolute to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Resolute stock.
Patrick Loulou is vice chair and chief strategy officer of Paper Excellence and says today’s announcement is a clear demonstration of their commitment to timely complete the acquisition of Resolute.
Remi Lalonde is the President and CEO at Resolute and says this is very hard thing to do, but he believes it is necessary in order to accelerate their combination with Paper Excellence.
Lalonde adds, “The mill is an exceptional asset. I am confident that the dedicated and talented team in Thunder Bay will have a prosperous future with any company fortunate enough to have them as part of their organization.”
Any sale of the Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill will be contingent upon closing of the announced acquisition of Resolute by Domtar.
The acquisition continues to be expected in the first half of 2023, following stockholder and regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, of which remain outstanding.
Meantime, Resolute Forest Products’ shareholders are being invited to a special virtual meeting on October 31 to vote on the proposed merger with Paper Excellence and its Domtar Subsidiary.
The transaction is valued at 2.7 billion dollars.
Anyone who held shares in Resolute as of September 19 is permitted to vote.
There is also a pending court case south of the border to stop the merger.
—With files from Mike Ebbeling
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