Cascades looking to divest non-core business units, Financial Post reports, noting that Western Canadian forest companies are looking for opportunities to buy due to improving US economy, with opportunities available in southern states

Elyse Blye

VANCOUVER, British Columbia , October 6, 2014 (Canada StockWatch) – The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition now that the U.S. economy is improving and housing starts are up, Western Canadian forest companies are looking for good opportunities to buy. The Post's Mary Teresa Bitti writes that for the most part, those opportunities are in the Southern states. While the conventional dimensional lumber market has returned to health, pulp and paper markets are still on the mend. "The upswing and resurgence in the U.S. housing market isn't going to address the fundamental change in demand for paper now that so much is done electronically," says Peter Finley at Fasken Martineau in Vancouver. "It's no longer the forestry industry generally; it's becoming more segmented because of changes in demand and markets." As a result, industry players in the paper space, such as Quebec-based Cascades, are divesting non-core business units. Patrick Menda at Blake Cassels in Montreal, the firm that acted for the Miami outfit that bought Cascades, says the flipside to what is happening in Western Canada is taking hold in Quebec, where the order of the day is shedding non-core businesses. "Financial buyers are coming in and picking off assets from corporations looking to refocus," he said.

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