VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Western Forest Products Inc. (TSX: WEF) (“Western” or the “Company”) announced today that in connection with its normal course issuer bid that was previously announced on August 3, 2018 (the “Bid”), it has entered into an automatic share purchase plan (the “Plan”) with its designated broker to facilitate purchases of its common shares under the Bid from December 28, 2018 to the end of February 14, 2019. The Plan allows Western to purchase common shares at times when it would ordinarily not be permitted to purchase its common shares due to regulatory restrictions or self-imposed blackout periods.
Pursuant to the Plan, before entering a blackout period, Western may, but is not required to, instruct its broker to make purchases under the Bid in accordance with the terms of the Plan. Such purchases would be made by the Company’s broker based on parameters established in accordance with the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”), applicable securities law and the terms of the Plan.
Outside of restricted or self-imposed blackout periods, common shares may be purchased under the Bid at the discretion of Western in accordance with TSX rules and applicable securities law. Any repurchases made under the Plan count towards the number of common shares purchased under the Bid. The Bid came into effect on August 8, 2018 and is scheduled to terminate on August 7, 2019.
About Western Forest Products Inc.
Western is an integrated Canadian forest products company and the largest coastal British Columbia timberlands operator and lumber producer. The Company has an annual available harvest of approximately 6 million cubic metres of timber, of which 5.8 million cubic metres is from Crown lands. Western has a lumber capacity of approximately 1.1 billion board feet from seven sawmills. Principal activities of the Company include timber harvesting, sawmilling logs into specialty lumber, and value added remanufacturing. With operations and employees primarily on the coast of British Columbia and one location in Washington State, Western is a premier supplier of high-value, specialty forest products to markets worldwide.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains statements that may constitute forward-looking statements under the applicable securities laws. Readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, may be forward-looking statements and can be identified by the use of words such as “will”, “may” and similar references to future periods. Although such statements reflect management’s current reasonable beliefs, expectations and assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements are accurate, and actual results or performance may materially vary. Many factors could cause our actual results or performance to be materially different, including a change in the Company’s financial situation, general economic conditions and other factors referenced under the “Risks and Uncertainties” section of our MD&A in our 2017 Annual Report dated February 15, 2018.
For further information, please contact:
Stephen Williams,
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
(604) 648-4500