Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. announced an agreement April 12 to sell its lumber and newsprint facilities in Ontario and Quebec to a Canadian lumber company for $214 million.
Jacksonville-based Rayonier AM acquired the business as part of its 2017 purchase of Montreal-based Tembec Inc., but it has been seeking to sell off assets that are not part of its core business.
Vancouver-based GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. is buying six lumber mills and one newsprint mill from Rayonier AM.
“The sale of the lumber and newsprint businesses allows us to divest non-core assets at an attractive valuation and positions Rayonier Advanced Materials to further invest in the earnings growth of our core High Purity Cellulose assets and its biofuture while also reducing overall debt,” CEO Paul Boynton said in a news release.
The deal with GreenFirst follows Rayonier AM’s 2019 sale of a pulp mill in Quebec to South Africa-based Sappi Ltd. for $175 million.
Rayonier AM expects the GreenFirst deal to close in the second half of 2021.