Canada’s Paper Excellence Group is to expand its North American footprint after entering into a definite agreement to acquire Resolute Forest Products through its US unit Domtar.
It is the second major deal in 14 months after Richmond, British Columbia-based Paper Excellence announced the purchase of Domtar in May 2021.
Patrick Loulou, Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer at Paper Excellence Group, said the purchase of Montreal, Quebec-based Resolute “complements our existing pulp, paper and packaging businesses and adds capabilities in lumber and tissue”.
When asked about the company’s plans for Resolute’s tissue manufacturing and pulp divisions following the acquisition, a spokesman for Paper Excellence Group told TWM: “The business fully trusts management of both companies to build on their respective businesses.”
Resolute will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Domtar and continue to operate on a business-as-usual basis under the Resolute name. The Resolute management team will remain in place at the company’s headquarters, and the company said it plans to retain Resolute’s production locations and support its existing growth strategy, focused on “strategic investments in its lumber and pulp businesses, and maximising the value of its paper and tissue businesses”.
It also plans to undertake a feasibility study for the eventual conversion of Resolute’s Gatineau, Quebec, newsprint mill to the production of packaging paper.
