West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Georgia Pacific’s oriented strand board (“OSB”) mill near Allendale, South Carolina for approximately $280 million. The transaction is anticipated to close following successful completion of U.S. regulatory reviews and satisfaction of customary conditions. Management will provide an update and further details about the transaction on West Fraser’s third quarter earnings call on October 28, 2021. All dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in U.S. dollars. The Allendale facility, which initially began producing OSB in 2007, has been idle since late 2019 and has an estimated stated capacity of approximately 760 million square feet (3/8-inch basis). The Company intends to invest an estimated $70 million of additional capital to upgrade and optimize the facility in preparation for its restart and this upgrade is anticipated to take approximately nine months to complete. The mill is expected to directly employ approximately 135 people and be one of the lowest cost mills in the Company’s OSB portfolio after the optimization is complete and the mill has ramped up to full production, a process that typically takes 18-24 months after restart.

Greif, Inc.  a global leader in industrial packaging products and services, announced today that it has completed the previously announced sale of its timberlands business to Molpus Woodlands Group, on behalf of clients, for approximately $462 million after adjustments. “The closing of this sale reinforces the commitment of Greif to pursue the highest return on invested capital across our portfolio.” said Ole Rosgaard, President and CEO of Greif. “Combined with the recently completed sale of our containerboard business, these cash proceeds are expected to put our leverage ratio below 1.2x, strengthening our balance sheet and providing significant interest savings heading into fiscal 2026.”

We delivered robust financial performance in the fourth quarter and ended 2024 on a good note. During the fourth quarter, we recorded outstanding net sales growth of +20% driven by better-than-expected volume growth, enabling a solid adjusted EBITDA margin of 13%, up 5% pts vs year ago. Once again, our North American region recorded impressive results with 17% net sales growth and 19% EBITDA margin. I am also satisfied with our result in Region Europe which, despite softer market conditions, managed to grow the topline by 16% and achieve an EBITDA margin of 12%. 2024 was characterized by challenging and rapidly changing market conditions. It was nevertheless a year with significantly improved financial performance versus 2023. Our proactive actions, discipline and flexible approach with strong focus on items we can control have served us well. Our net sales grew by 5% through volume growth, mix and price management. We successfully limited the fixed cost increase below inflation and delivered another sizable contribution to the efficiency enhancement program.