Category Archives: Misc.

Fibrek Inc. has announced that following the acquisition of 63.3% of Fibrek by Resolute Forest Products, each of the members of the board of directors has resigned.

The new members of the Board nominated by Resolute are Jacques P. Vachon, Jo-Ann Longworth, Michel Desbiens, Michel Gagnon, Daniel Filion, and Richard Garneau who will serve as Chairman of the Board.

Fibrek also announced that the following members of Fibrek’s management team have resigned from their positions as corporate officers of the Company, effective immediately, but will ensure an orderly transition to the new management team until May 31, 2012:

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Canfor Corporation will be proceeding with capital improvement projects totalling approximately $40 million in its sawmill facilities in the Kootenay region of British Columbia.

These investments represent the first major component of a multi-year capital investment program, aimed at enhancing productivity and cost performance in Canfor’s BC Southern Interior mill facilities.

The investments announced today are concentrated on the Radium Sawmill, located in the community of Radium Hot Springs, B.C.

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The Board of Directors of TimberWest Forest Corp. has appointed Brian E. Frank to the positions of President and Chief Executive Officer effective May 2, 2012.

Frank has an extensive background in the natural resources industry at the executive level, most recently as the Chief Executive of Global Oil Europe and Finance for BP in London, England.

Frank has also recently held the positions of President, BP Energy Company in Houston, Texas, and President and CEO of BP Canada Energy Company in Calgary, Alberta. Frank also spent ten years at Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa and has the benefit of extensive private and public sector experience.

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Fortress Paper Ltd. has appointmed Andre Boucher to the position of Chief Operating Officer of Fortress Specialty Cellulose Inc., a wholly-owned operating subsidiary which produces dissolving pulp.

Boucher has over 30 years of industry experience in the specialty cellulose sector including 24 years at Tembec Inc. where he was the General Manager of the Temiscaming dissolving pulp mill. Boucher was responsible for overall mill optimization and development of specialty products, including a full range of acetate and other specialty pulps. Most recently, Boucher was General Manager of Ethanol Operations for Suncor Energy Inc. where he developed the facility from concept to an efficient operating mill.

Chadwick Wasilenkoff, Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Paper, commented: “Andre brings a wealth of experience and technical talent to Fortress Paper at a time when we are growing our dissolving pulp business. We feel his mill optimization and unique experience in transitioning a viscose-grade dissolving pulp mill to a specialty-grade dissolving pulp mill will further enhance our already strong specialty cellulose team. Andre’s addition provides us with more flexibility as we balance our key personnel between Thurso and our other strategic projects.”

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Vandals recently broke into the idled Springer Creek Forest Products mill in Slocan, British Columbia.

Police say that between April 9 and April 12, several doors were broken. The vandals emptied fire extinguishers throughout the site, and spray painted graffiti in many places.

Any information about this damage should be reported to the RCMP.

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Verso Paper Corp‘s President and Chief Executive Officer Michael A. Jackson is retiring.

David J. Paterson, formerly of AbitibiBowater, has been elected by Verso’s board of directors to replace Jackson.

Scott Kleinman, Verso’s Chairman of the Board, said, “we are pleased and honored that Dave Paterson will become Verso’s new CEO. Dave brings to Verso a wealth of experience garnered during his many years of service as an executive with AbitibiBowater Inc., Bowater Incorporated, and Georgia-Pacific Corporation. Dave is an outstanding leader, a respected and knowledgeable businessman, and absolutely the right person to lead Verso in the next phase of its business life.”

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West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has appointed Edward (“Ted”) R. Seraphim to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer.

Seraphim joined the company in 1997 and has held the positions of Vice-President, Pulp & Paper Sales, Vice-President, Pulp & Paper and was most recently Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer.

Hank Ketcham, who continues as the company’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, and who served as West Fraser’s President for 26 years, said, “I am delighted that Ted has accepted this important role and I am looking forward, together with our entire senior executive team, to working together to achieve continued success for our investors, our employees and our communities.”

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Irving K. Barber, or Ike Barber as he preferred to be called, passed away peacefully at home on April 13 at the age of 89 after a long illness.

Barber graduated from the University of British Columbia‘s Faculty of Forestry in 1950. He spent 18 years with MacMillan Bloedel, and later joined Triangle Pacific.

As vice-president and CEO of Triangle Pacific, he teamed up with co-worker Ron Price in 1978 to buy the sawmill at Slocan and form Slocan Forest Products.

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The Powell River Pulp and Paper mill in British Columbia turned 100 years old this week.

The mill in Powell River was at one time the largest pulp and paper mill in the world. In its prime, one in every 25 newspapers in the world was printed on paper from the Powell River mill. However, since then it has significantly cut back on production and now produces newsprint and specialty papers for Catalyst Paper. Only 3 paper machines (#9, #10 and #11) remain in production today.

100 year celebrations are rather subdued though due to owner Catalyst Paper’s possible demise.

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Mercer International Inc. has increased its offer for Fibrek and is now offering to purchase all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Fibrek for $1.30 (up from $1.40).

The increased consideration represents a 40% premium over the unsolicited insider bid made by AbitibiBowater Inc. (doing business as Resolute Forest Products).

Fibrek also announced today that its Board of Directors has adopted a shareholder rights plan, to automatically terminate at the close of business on May 11, 2012, in order to enable shareholders to benefit from the Increased Mercer Offer.

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