Interfor to buy Chaleur Forest Products for $236 mln

Interfor

03/10/2022 15:05

Oct 3 (Reuters) - Canadian lumber producer Interfor Corp
 IFP.TO  said on Monday it will buy Chaleur Forest Products for
C$325 million ($236.40 million), as it looks to boost presence
in the New Brunswick province.
    The deal comes as lumber prices slide from soaring levels
touched earlier this year, when Russia banned forestry product
exports to the West — a retaliation against Western sanctions
imposed over it for invading Ukraine. 
    Interfor said it will add two sawmills to its portfolio
through the all-cash purchase with a combined annual lumber
production capacity of 350 million board feet. It will also gain
a woodlands management division based in Miramichi that manages
about 30% of the total Crown forest in New Brunswick.
    "New Brunswick has a secure, high quality and competitive
log supply, a supportive investment environment and proximity to
key eastern markets," said Interfor Chief Executive And
President Ian Fillinger.
    Interfor also said it expects its total annual lumber
production capacity to increase to 5.1 billion board feet on a
proforma basis, of which 44% will be in the U.S. South, 19% in
Eastern Canada, 15% in the U.S. Northwest, 15% in British
Columbia and 7% in Atlantic Canada. 
($1 = 1.3748 Canadian dollars)
 (Reporting by Ankit Kumar; editing by Uttaresh.V)
 ((Ankit.Kumar2@thomsonreuters.com;))