Fibrek recommends shareholders tender US$1.30 Mercer offer, open until April 6, and reject Resolute Forest Product's US$1.00 unsolicited insider bid, extended to March 19

Kendall Sinclair

MONTREAL , March 12, 2012 (press release) – Fibrek Inc. ("Fibrek" or the "Company") announced today that AbitibiBowater Inc. (doing business as Resolute Forest Products) ("Abitibi") has extended its $1.00 unsolicited insider bid to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Fibrek to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on March 19, 2012.

Fibrek also announced today that it has been notified that Abitibi has applied to seek permission from the Québec Court of Appeal to appeal the Court of Québec's decision reversing the cease trade order on Fibrek's private placement of 32,320,000 special warrants to Mercer International Inc. ("Mercer"). Abitibi’s appeal is conditional to the Québec Court of Appeal’s approval.

The Mercer offer at $1.30, which represents a 30% premium over the Abitibi bid, was launched on February 29, 2012 and will remain open until 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on April 6, 2012.
The Board of Directors continues to unanimously recommend that shareholders ACCEPT and TENDER their common shares to Mercer’s $1.30 offer.

The Board also recommends that shareholders REJECT and NOT TENDER their common shares to Abitibi’s unsolicited $1.00 insider bid. According to Abitibi, as of the close of business on March 9, approximately 60.5 million common shares of Fibrek had been deposited to their insider bid, representing approximately 46.5% of the outstanding common shares. Abitibi’s insider bid requires that a minimum of 66 2/3% of common shares be tendered. If shareholders have tendered their shares to the Abitibi insider bid, the Board recommends that they WITHDRAW them immediately.

The Support Agreement, the Special Warrant Agreement and the Directors' Circular in respect of the Mercer offer have been filed and are available at www.sedar.com under the company’s profile.

For more information on how to tender Fibrek common shares, for any other inquiries regarding the Mercer offer or on how to withdraw shares tendered to the Abitibi bid, please contact Fibrek's information agent, Phoenix Advisory Partners, at 1-800-398-1129 (North American Toll Free) or via email at inquiries@phoenixadvisorypartners.com.


About Fibrek

Fibrek (TSX: FBK) is a leading producer and marketer of high-quality virgin and recycled kraft pulp. The company operates three mills located in Saint-Félicien, Québec, Fairmont, West Virginia, and in Menominee, Michigan with a combined annual production capacity of 760,000 tonnes. Fibrek has approximately 500 employees. The Saint-Félicien mill provides northern bleached softwood kraft pulp (product known as NBSK pulp) to various sectors of the paper industry mainly in Canada, the United States and Europe, for use in the production of specialized products. The Fairmont and Menominee mills manufacture air-dried recycled bleached kraft pulp (product known as RBK pulp) and primarily supply manufacturers of fine uncoated paper, tissue paper for commercial and industrial uses, and coated paper in the United States.

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