Atlanta, Ga.-based Georgia Pacific (GP) has signed an agreement to acquire several of Grant Forest Oriented Strand Board (OSB) facilities.
The $400-million deal will see GP take over Grant’s Englehart, Ont. plant and the associated facility at Earlton along with the OSB facilities in Allendale and Clarendon, S.C.
Grant Forest Products intends to seek approval for the agreement from the Canadian Court overseeing Grant’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act case and a United States Bankruptcy Court. The process is expected to conclude in the first half of 2010.
“These are world-class facilities that fit strategically with our current wood products operations and we are pleased with this opportunity to grow our OSB business in Canada and the U.S.,” said Mark Luetters, president of Georgia-Pacific Wood Products.
Georgia-Pacific intends to operate the OSB manufacturing facilities in Ontario and at Allendale, which will employ about 300 people.
The Clarendon plant will be finished construction and operations will begin as soon as market conditions allow, which will entail employing more than 100 people in Clarendon County. In addition, Georgia-Pacific plans to make capital investments worth several million dollars to improve the facilities and deliver enhanced reliability and efficiencies.
