Transaction advances Twin Rivers’ focus on core specialty and kraft papers business

MADAWASKA, Maine – Twin Rivers Paper Company, a leading producer of specialty and kraft paper products, announced today that it has finalized the sale of Plaster Rock Lumber Corporation, its softwood lumber mill in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, to eastern Canadian lumber manufacturer and North American forest products leader Groupe Lebel. The sale advances Twin Rivers’ strategy of investing in and growing its core business of specialty and kraft paper production.

The transaction includes a long-term supply agreement for Groupe Lebel to provide Twin Rivers Paper with by-product chips and biomass utilized by Twin Rivers’ pulp and cogeneration operations in Edmundston, New Brunswick.

“We are extremely proud of the work we’ve done at Twin Rivers to strengthen and solidify the Plaster Rock operation during our ownership,” stated Tyler Rajeski, Chief Financial Officer of Twin Rivers Paper. “As a longtime valued supplier to our Edmundston pulp operation and having a proven track record of investing in its assets and driving operational improvements, Groupe Lebel is the right partner for our Plaster Rock mill and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them in the months and years ahead. We’re confident this transaction will positively impact mill employees, Plaster Rock’s customers and vendors, and the entire community of Plaster Rock.”

Groupe Lebel is one of the leaders among forest producers in Eastern Canada. The company employs 1,250 people in sixteen municipalities in Quebec, two in Ontario and one in the state of Maine in the United States. The company is one of the main lumber manufacturers in Eastern Canada to be vertically integrated, from the cutting of trees to the distribution of finished products.