Features Research & Innovation
Asset sale of Papiers Gaspsia

CHANDLER, QC — The intense efforts of the past few years to relaunch Papiers Gaspsia have been in vain as no takers were found to re-open the mill. As a result, Socit de dveloppement conomique et industriel de Chandler (SDEIC) and its partners have accepted Vantek Incorporated’s offer to purchase.
Valued at US$40 million, this transaction will allow Vantek to purchase the Papiers Gaspsia mill and all its equipment. In the coming months Vantek plans to sell the main equipment and dismantle the buildings on the main site.
The transaction is good for the City of Chandler, which gets to keep all the Papiers Gaspsia land. The deal will generate liquidities in the order of some million dollars that will be invested in an economic development fund to finance new projects in the region.
“We worked tirelessly to create scenarios that would allow the company to reopen but we had no success. After four years of trying, the Vantek offer is the best under the circumstances. It will give us all the latitude we need to redevelop the Gaspsia land, and in this regard, all the citizens of Chandler will benefit. We’re turning an important page in our history and we’re optimistic as regards future projects,” stated President of SDEIC and Chandler Mayor Claude Cyr.
Vantek’s offer, which would have expired within the next few days, has received the backing and support of all of Papiers Gaspsia’s financial partners; namely, Socit gnrale de financement du Qubec, Solidarity Fund QFL, Tembec and Investissement Qubec. All the players dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to this matter and gave SDEIC the help it needed to conclude this transaction, which under the circumstances, is the best for the city of Chandler and the region.
The projects submitted in the past few days to use a part of the Gaspsia buildings and equipment with a view to producing and exporting paper pulp were considered and analyzed. Unfortunately, the promoters were not able to provide sufficient guarantees that their projects would come to fruition. Under the circumstances, and in the best interests of the Chandler community, the Vantek offer had to be accepted.