Jim Pattison-owned company to buy Canfor in deal worth almost $1B

Canfor announced Monday it will become a private corporation in a multi-million dollar deal with a Jim-Pattison-owned company.

Great Pacific Capital Corporation, which already owns 51 per centof shares in Canfor, will purchase the remaining 49 per centat $16 each, in a deal that is estimated at more than $980 million.

"The transaction represents fair value for shareholders and is the correct path forward for Canfor, Canfor employees, communities and shareholders," a Canfor spokesperson said in a statement.

Canfor is one of the biggest forestry companies in North America, with assets throughout British Columbia and the southern United States.

B.C.'s lumber industry has been hit by a slowdown in the U.S. housing market and lower demand from China, as well as the impact of wildfires and the mountain pine beetle, leading to several mill closures and curtailmentsand hundreds of job losses.

Pattison, 90, owns several supermarkets, fisheries and billboards through Great Pacific, his conglomerate holding company.