International Forest Products (Interfor) Ltd has announced a deal with Pope & Talbot Ltd to buy three sawmills in North America, increasing its annual production capacity to 1.9 billion board feet and expanding its presence in the US.
Interfor is to spend US$69m buying the Spearfish, Castlegar and Grand Forks sawmills, and will also acquire annual harvesting rights to one million m³ of timber in British Columbia’s Southern Interior as part of the deal.
The Castlegar and Grand Forks sawmills, both in British Columbia, serve the US and Canadian markets with speciality and commodity grade lumber products, while the Spearfish mill in South Dakota serves speciality markets in America.
“We view the acquisition of these mills as an attractive opportunity to add critical mass in one of our core operating regions and to expand our presence in the US,” said Interfor president and chief executive officer Duncan Davies.
“The transaction will also broaden our product lines in both speciality and commodity grades.”
Mr Davies added that Interfor has “a strong balance sheet” and that it would be looking to “weather the cycles of the lumber industry” in order to “maintain our ability to pursue further growth opportunities”.
