Business News

AbitibiBowater Announces Sale of Snowflake Mill

Monday 11. February 2008 - bitibiBowater today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Catalyst Paper Corporation (TSX: CTL) for the sale of its Snowflake, Arizona, assets for cash consideration of $161 million, excluding working capital of approximately $19 million retained by AbitibiBowater. The facility has an annual production capacity of approximately 375,000 tonnes of newsprint.

The closing of this transaction is required to comply with the requirements set by the U.S. Department of Justice in October 2007 for approval of the Abitibi-Consolidated/Bowater combination. AbitibiBowater plans to use the proceeds from this sale to repay debt and for general corporate purposes.

The sale of the Snowflake mill is subject to customary closing conditions, including a financing contingency which is expected to be satisfied in part by a fully backstopped rights offering. The sale is expected to close in the second quarter.