Resolute Forest Products Inc., which owns the Fort Frances paper mill, announced a plan this week to reduce its debt.
The company stated that it had repurchased 3.7 million shares of its common stock under the existing $100 million share repurchase program.
The company also announced that it would redeem an additional $85 million of its 10.25 percent senior secured notes due 2018.
“I’m pleased to say that we have now repurchased more shares than we issued to acquire Fibrek,” stated Richard Garneau, president and chief executive officer in a prepared statement. “Today’s announcements demonstrate our commitment to disciplined capital management — we are using our strong financial position to reduce debt, while also returning cash to shareholders. We will continue to manage capital with the utmost discipline, carefully balancing initiatives to return cash to shareholders with other considerations, such as pursuing sound capital investments and opportunities to further increase Resolute’s earnings power.”
The company will use available cash for the redemption of $85 million in principal amount of the notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest.
The redemption is scheduled to occur on Oct. 10, at a redemption price of 103 percent. Following the redemption, the aggregate face amount of the notes will be approximately $500 million.
Resolute owns or operates 21 pulp and paper mills and 22 wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea. Products include newsprint, commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products. The shares of Resolute Forest Products trade under the stock symbol RFP on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
