(Montreal) Resolute Forest Products and Excellence Paper said Wednesday they had received approval from Canada’s Competition Bureau for the takeover bid, which was valued at $2.7 billion.
The two companies announced in a joint press release “the conclusion by the Commissioner of Competition of Canada of an agreement relating to the business combination of the parties”.
At the end of October, the shareholders of Resolute had given their agreement to the acquisition offer by Groupe Papier Excellence, during a virtual meeting.
The transaction would make Papier Excellence a major player in the Quebec forest industry. Resolute would become a subsidiary of the Domtar Group, which also became part of the British Columbia company last year.
Paper Excellence said Wednesday that Domtar would acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Resolute for $20.50 per share, plus a conditional right to value tied to any refunds of rights deposits. with a maximum value of 500 million.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of other conditions to closing the merger, it said.
When the transaction was announced, Resolute’s President and CEO, Rémi G. Lalonde, said that the acquisition of the Montreal company by Papier excellence was good news for Quebec.
He pointed out that the company would have access to more financial resources. He cited the Resolute newsprint mill in Gatineau as an example. The agreement provides for the completion of a feasibility study for the conversion of the plant to a packaging paper production plant.
At the end of October, however, Papier Excellence had been the subject of a critical report by the environmental association Greenpeace. The report alleged that the company would have an opaque structure and be linked to companies criticized for poor environmental practices. Paper Excellence rejected the report’s findings.
Resolute shares gained $1.46 on Wednesday, or just over 5%, to $29.84 at the end of trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.