April 1 marked the completion of the merger of Norbord Inc. and Ainsworth Lumber Co.
At the OSB plant in 100 Mile House, Norbord president and CEO Peter Wijnbergen visited April 2 to celebrate with local employees and talk about the vision behind the merger.
"We are excited to welcome the employees at 100 Mile House to Norbord, and for our company to become part of the community here."
The aim of the merger is to create new opportunities for everyone by sharing best practices on everything from products to safety, he said.
"This is the beginning of a new chapter for the company and its employees and we are pleased to be moving forward together."
With the long-time local mill now operating under the Norbord name, 100 Mile House general manager Rick Takagi spoke enthusiastically about the newly merged OSB company.
"This merger will mean good things for our team here in 100 Mile House as part of a strong and stable company that is a global leader.
"Last year, we marked 20 years of operations at our mill, and joining Norbord sets us up to continue to thrive in the future."
Ainsworth is now operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Norbord.
According the Norbord website at www.norbord.com, it acquired all of Ainsworth's outstanding common shares under the terms of the transaction. It states that for each Ainsworth share, shareholders received 0.1321 of a share of Norbord.
Registered holders of Ainsworth common shares are reminded they must complete, sign and return the letter of transmittal, along with share certificates, in order to receive the Norbord common shares they are entitled to under the transaction. (Further information is on the website.)
Norbord is an international producer of OSB and wood-based panels, headquartered in Toronto. The company employs 2,600 people at 17 plant locations in the United States, Canada and Europe.
In Canada, Norbord has two mills in Quebec (and a technology centre in Montreal), another pair of mills in Alberta, one in Ontario, and the 100 Mile House mill.
Wijnbergen and other Norbord executives are holding similar events at the other Ainsworth mills across Canada.