MONTREAL,
April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -
AbitibiBowater Inc., doing business as Resolute Forest Products
(NYSE: ABH) (TSX: ABH), today announced that it has taken up and
accepted for payment 2,664,351 additional shares of Fibrek Inc.
(TSX: FBK) deposited to its offer as of the close of business
today. Together with the shares the Company acquired on
April 11, Resolute holds
approximately 48.8% of the currently outstanding Fibrek
shares. As aggregate consideration for the shares taken up
today, Resolute will distribute approximately 76,000 newly-issued
shares of its common stock and CAD$1.5
million in cash through RFP Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary.
The Company also announced that it has extended
to 5:00 p.m. on May 4 the expiry time for its offer. As
further described in the offer circular and other ancillary
documentation related to the offer (as amended), Resolute intends
to carry out a second step transaction to acquire the Fibrek shares
not deposited in the offer.
The offer to acquire all of the issued and
outstanding shares of Fibrek made by Resolute, together with RFP
Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, is more fully
described in the offer circular and other ancillary documentation
that Resolute filed on December 15,
2011, on the "SEDAR" website maintained by the Canadian
Securities Administrators, as varied and extended. The offer
will expire at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern
time) on May 4, 2012.
Questions and requests for assistance or further
information on how to tender Fibrek common shares to the offer
should be directed to, and copies of the above referenced documents
may be obtained by contacting, Georgeson at 1-866-598-0048 or by
email at askus@georgeson.com.
Important Notice
This press release does not constitute an offer
to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a
solicitation of any vote or approval. Resolute has filed with
the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4, as amended, in
connection with the proposed transaction with Fibrek.
INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF RESOLUTE AND FIBREK ARE URGED
TO READ THESE DOCUMENTS, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS
THERETO, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED WITH
THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE
PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Such documents are available free of
charge through the web site maintained by the SEC at
www.sec.gov, by calling the SEC at telephone number
800-SEC-0330, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or on
Resolute's website at www.resolutefp.com.
About Resolute Forest Products
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in
the forest products industry with a diverse range of products,
including newsprint, commercial printing papers, market pulp and
wood products. The Company owns or operates 18 pulp and paper mills
and 23 wood products facilities in the
United States, Canada and
South Korea. Marketing its
products in more than 90 countries, Resolute has third-party
certified 100% of its managed woodlands to sustainable forest
management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products,
formerly doing business as AbitibiBowater, trade under the stock
symbol ABH on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto
Stock Exchange.
Resolute and other member companies of the
Forest Products Association of Canada, as well as a number of environmental
organizations, are partners in the Canadian Boreal Forest
Agreement. The group works to identify solutions to conservation
issues that meet the goal of balancing equally the three pillars of
sustainability linked to human activities: environmental, social
and economic. Resolute is also a member of the World Wildlife
Fund's Climate Savers program, in which businesses establish
ambitious targets to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and work aggressively toward achieving them.
Cautionary Statements Regarding
Forward-looking Information
Statements in this press release that are not
reported financial results or other historical information of
AbitibiBowater Inc., doing business as Resolute Forest Products,
are "forward-looking statements" and may be identified by the use
of forward-looking terminology such as the words "should", "would",
"could", "will", "may", "expect", "believe", "anticipate",
"attempt", "project" and other terms with similar meaning
indicating possible future events or potential impact on Resolute's
business or shareholders, including future operations following the
proposed acquisition of Fibrek. The safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 do not apply to
any forward-looking statements made in connection with an exchange
offer.
The reader is cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not
guarantees of future performance. These statements are based on
management's current assumptions, beliefs and expectations, all of
which involve a number of business risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially. The potential
risks and uncertainties that could cause Resolute's actual future
financial condition, results of operations and performance to
differ materially from those expressed or implied in this press
release include, but are not limited to, Resolute Common Stock
issued in connection with the proposed acquisition may have a
market value lower than expected, the businesses of Resolute and
Fibrek may not be integrated successfully or such integration may
be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected, the
possible delay in the completion of the steps required to be taken
for the eventual combination of the two companies, including the
possibility that approvals or clearances required to be obtained
from regulatory and other agencies and bodies will not be obtained
in a timely manner, disruption from the proposed transaction making
it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers,
employees and suppliers, and all other potential risks and
uncertainties set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in Part I,
Item 1A of Resolute's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2011, filed with the SEC
and Resolute's other filings with the Canadian securities
regulatory authorities.
All forward-looking statements in this press
release are expressly qualified by the cautionary statements
contained or referred to above and in Resolute's other filings with
the SEC and the Canadian securities regulatory authorities.
Resolute disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
law.
SOURCE RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS