Canadian pulp producer Mercer International Inc plans to purchase smaller peer Fibrek Inc for about C$170 million ($171.04 million), topping AbitibiBowater Inc's hostile bid by 30 percent.Mercer's C$1.30 a share offer represents a 15 percent premium to Fibrek's Thursday close and will give the company access to three mills with a combined annual production capacity of 760,000 tonnes.The deal comes just days after Fibrek, which was looking for strategic alternatives in the face of falling pulp prices, rejected AbitibiBowater's bid of about C$130 million."This has been a challenging time for Fibrek ... we believe this offer meets our goal and provides a significant premium relative to Abitibi's unsolicited offer," Fibrek's chairman Hubert Lacroix said in a statement.
Fibrek Inc. (Fibrek), formerly SFK Pulp Fund, is a producer and marketer of virgin and recycled kraft pulp. Shares of FBK remained unchanged at $1.13. On average, 0 shares of FBK.TO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
Mercer International Inc. (Mercer) operates in the pulp business and is a producer of market northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp. Shares of MERC remained unchanged at $8.25. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $5.30 and as high as $15.27. On average, 247442 shares of MERC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
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