Resolute Forest Products
{{short description|Pulp and paper company}}
{{Infobox company|
| name = Resolute Forest Products Inc.
| logo = Resolute Forest Products (logo).svg
| type = Subsidiary
| parent = Domtar (2023–present)
| owner = Paper Excellence Group (2023–present)
| ISIN = {{ISIN|sl=n|pl=y|US76117W1099}} delisted 2023{{cite web|access-date=2024-02-02|author=Brenda Martin|date=2023-03-01|language=en|title=Paper Excellence Welcomes Resolute Into Its Family of Companies|url=https://paperexcellence.com/paper-excellence-welcomes-resolute-into-its-family-of-companies/|website=Paper Excellence Group}}
| foundation = 2007 (Abitibi-Consolidated and Bowater merger)
| location = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = Duncan K. Davies{{Cite web|date=2021-09-13|title=Duncan K. Davies Named Chairman of the Board of Resolute|url=https://resolutefp.mediaroom.com/2021-09-13-Duncan-K-Davies-Named-Chairman-of-the-Board-of-Resolute|website=Resolute Forest Products|language=en-US}}
(Chairman)
Remi G. Lalonde{{Cite web|title=Executive Team|url=https://www.resolutefp.com/about_us/executive_team/|website=Resolute Forest Products|language=en-US}} {{small|CEO}}
| industry = Pulp and Paper, Tissue, Wood Products
| num_employees = 7,100 (2020){{Cite web|title=2020 10-K|url=https://www.resolutefp.com/uploadedFiles/Investors/Financial_Reports/2020_10-K_Resolute-RFP.pdf |website=Resolute Forest Products|language=en-US}}
| products = Market Pulp, Paper, Tissue, and Wood Products{{Cite web|title=Products|url=https://www.resolutefp.com/Products/ |website=Resolute Forest Products|language=en-US}}
| revenue = {{decrease}} US$ 2.8 billion (2020)
| operating_income = {{decrease}} US$ 99 million (2020)
| net_income = {{decrease}} US$ 10 million (2020)
| assets = {{decrease}} US$ 3.73 billion (2020)
| equity = {{decrease}} US$ 1.081 billion (2020
| homepage = {{URL|http://www.resolutefp.com/}}
}}
Resolute Forest Products (French: Produits forestiers Résolu), formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc., is a Canada-based pulp and paper company.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2007/01/29/abitibi-and-bowater-agree-to-merge-in-allstock-deal.html|title=Abitibi and Bowater Agree to Merge In All-Stock Deal|date=January 29, 2007|website=CNBC}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2007/10/29/daily3.html|title=Bowater completes merger with Abitibi|publisher=Charlotte Business Journal|date=October 29, 2007}} Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company was formed in 2007 by the merger of Bowater and Abitibi-Consolidated.{{cite news|title=Abitibi, Bowater merging to create forestry giant|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/abitibi-bowater-merging-to-create-forestry-giant-1.632402|work=CBC News|date=2007-01-30|access-date=2007-02-26|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711031231/http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/01/29/abitibibowater.html|archive-date=July 11, 2007}} At that time, the merged company was the third largest pulp and paper company in North America, and the eighth largest in the world.
On 1 July 2012, the company's name was changed to Resolute Forest Products Inc.{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/news-sources/?date=20111011&archive=cnw&slug=C2645|title=AbitibiBowater Changing Name To Resolute Forest Products|date=2011-10-11|accessdate=2011-10-14|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto}}{{cite news|url=http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news/business/article/1270861--new-name-for-abitibibowater|title=New name for AbitibiBowater|last=Forsyth|first=Paul|date=28 December 2011|publisher=NiagaraThisWeek.com|accessdate=31 December 2011}} In 2023, the company was acquired by the Paper Excellence Group through its subsidiary, Domtar.{{Cite web|url=https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry-news/forestry/paper-excellence-completes-acquisition-of-resolute-forest-products-6631067|title=Paper Excellence completes acquisition of Resolute Forest Products|work=Northern Ontario Business|access-date=2023-07-18|language=en-US}}
History
On 29 January 2007, Bowater Inc. and Abitibi-Consolidated announced they would be merging to create AbitibiBowater. The merger created the third largest pulp and paper company in North America, and the eighth largest in the world. On 16 April 2009, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and similar protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada, eventually reporting debt of about US$6 billion.{{cite news|title=AbitibiBowater gets bankruptcy protection in Canada|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/abitibibowater-gets-bankruptcy-protection-in-canada-1.804337|work=CBC News|date=2009-04-18|access-date=2011-09-26}} The company won court approval for an injection of $206 million to get it through its financial restructuring in April 2009{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKN1734999020090417|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423123058/http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKN1734999020090417|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 23, 2009|title=AbitibiBowater gets court OK for $206 mln DIP|date=2009-04-17|accessdate=2009-04-20|work=Reuters}} and emerged from creditor protection on 9 December 2010.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/abitibibowater-idUSN0925114020101209|title=AbitibiBowater emerges from bankruptcy|date=2010-12-09|accessdate=2011-09-13|work=Reuters}} AbitibiBowater changed its operating name to Resolute Forest Products on 1 July 2012. In a round of market consolidation, a new private company called the Paper Excellence Group acquired Catalyst Paper in 2019, Domtar in 2021 and Resolute in 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/paper-excellence-pulp-china-1.6772654 |title=Who's behind Canada's new pulp-and-paper powerhouse, and where's the money coming from? |publisher=CBC News |first1=Zach |last1=Dubinsky|first2=Elizabeth |last2=Thompson |date=March 9, 2023}}
=Predecessor companies=
The following are the principal predecessor companies of Resolute:{{cite web |url= https://www.resolutefp.com/About_Us/Our_History/|title= Our History|author= |date=2020|publisher= Resolute Forest Products}}
{{cladeR |reverse=yes
|label1=AbitibiBowater (2007)
|sublabel1=name changed to Resolute (2012)
|1={{cladeR
|label1=acquisition of Donohue (2000)
|1={{cladeR
|label1=Abitibi-Consolidated (1997)
|1={{cladeR
|label1=Abitibi-Price (1979)date of name change; Price acquired in 1974
|1={{cladeR
|1=Abitibi Power and Paper Company (1914)
|2=Price Brothers Limited (1820)
}}
|label2=Consolidated-Bathurst (1966)
|sublabel2=subsidiary of Power Corporationsold to Stone Container Corporation and renamed Stone-Consolidated (1989)
|2={{cladeR
|1={{cladeR
|1=Consolidated Paper Corporation (1932)
|2=Bathurst Power and Paper Company (1915)
}}
}}
}}
|label2=acquisition of QUNO (1995)
|2={{cladeR
|1=Donohue Inc. (1920)originally named Murray River Power and Pulp Company; name changed in 1922
|2=QUNO (1913)originally named Ontario Paper Company; founded by Robert R. McCormick, proprietor of the Chicago Tribune
}}
}}
|label2=acquisition of Avenor (1998)
|2={{cladeR
|1=Bowater (1910)North American assets of Bowater plc; spun off in 1984
|label2=CP Forest Products (1988)
|sublabel2=divested as Avenor (1993)
|2={{cladeR
|1=Great Lakes Paper (1924)acquired by Canadian Pacific Limited in 1974
|2=Canadian International Paper Company (1919)formed as a subsidiary of International Paper; spun off in 1982, becoming CIP
}}
}}
}}
}}
{{reflist|group=a}}
Operations
{{reflist|group=a}}
Issues
=Employees=
The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada has been critical of the company's attempts to renegotiate pension contributions with their pension underfunded by approximately $1.9 billion.{{cite news| title=Resolute workers have done 'enough,' union says|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/resolute-workers-have-done-enough-union-says-1.1262143 | work=CBC News}} On 3 May 2013, it was reported that an agreement was put in place which may address the ongoing pension dispute with Resolute agreeing to increase its pension payments and “stabilize the pension plan over the next decade.”{{cite news | title = Kenora mill workers union says conflict over pensions may be settled for good | url = http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/2013/05/03/kenora-mill-workers-union-says-conflict-over-pensions-may-be-settled-for-good | work = Kenora Daily Miner and News | date = 2013-05-03 | accessdate = 2013-07-05}}
=Environmental accreditations=
On August 29, 2013 a case study examining the use of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Controlled Wood system by Resolute was released.{{Cite web |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/report/2013/08/FSCatRisk-CanadasResoluteForestProducts.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115154107/http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/report/2013/08/FSCatRisk-CanadasResoluteForestProducts.pdf |archive-date=2013-11-15 |url-status=dead }} The report concludes that Resolute's improper application of Forest Stewardship Council standards threatens the integrity of the FSC system and brand. On January 1, 2014, after a successful appeal by the Grand Council of the Crees, three FSC certificates covering more than 8 million hectares of forest were suspended. FSC found violations of its principles relating to indigenous Peoples’ rights, environmental impacts, forest benefits, monitoring and assessment, and High Conservation Value forests.{{cite news | title = Resolute Forest Products' FSC Forest Management Certificates to be suspended | url = https://ca.fsc.org/newsroom.239.219.htm | work = FSC Newsroom | date = 2013-12-18 | accessdate = 2014-02-28 | archive-date = 2014-03-16 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140316110047/https://ca.fsc.org/newsroom.239.219.htm | url-status = dead }} Resolute Forest Products became a member of the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Saver’s Program on November 10, 2011 with a commitment to “reduce their absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 65 per cent by 2015 below 2000 levels” .{{cite news|title=Resolute Forest Products Joins WWF Climate Savers Program|url=http://www.wwf.ca/?10101/Resolute-Forest-Products-Joins-WWF-Climate-Savers-Program|work=WWF|date=2011-11-10|accessdate=2013-07-05}}
=Greenpeace=
Resolute Forest Products has been criticized by Greenpeace and other organizations for advancing logging and road building in endangered species habitat in Québec and Ontario.{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/resolute/ |title=Resolute responds to Greenpeace campaigns by labelling us a "criminal enterprise". Other corporations respond by… - Greenpeace Canada |publisher=Greenpeace.org |date=2017-01-23 |accessdate=2018-08-11}}
On 18 May 2010, Resolute Forest Products joined 29 other organizations including Greenpeace Canada and the David Suzuki Foundation{{Cite web |url=http://canadianborealforestagreement.com/index.php/en/whos-involved |title=Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement: Who's involved |access-date=2011-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211071932/http://www.canadianborealforestagreement.com/index.php/en/whos-involved/ |archive-date=2012-02-11 |url-status=dead }} to become a founding member of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA).{{Cite web |url=http://canadianborealforestagreement.com/index.php/en/the-canadian-boreal-agreement |title=Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement: The Agreement |access-date=2011-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031121941/http://canadianborealforestagreement.com/index.php/en/the-canadian-boreal-agreement/ |archive-date=2011-10-31 |url-status=dead }} The agreement formalizes the members’ commitments to conserving vast areas of forests and enabling the legislated protection of large-scale areas that are needed to preserve threatened species such as woodland caribou. Claiming a lack of progress on delivering results within the CBFA, particularly on the creation of protected areas and caribou conservation plans, Greenpeace Canada and Canopy, two founding signatories, departed the agreement in December 2012 and April 2013 respectively.{{cite news| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/another-environmental-group-pulls-out-of-canadian-logging-pact/article11305701/#dashboard/follows/ | location=Toronto | work=The Globe and Mail | title=Another environmental group pulls out of Canadian logging pact | date=2013-04-17}} Other environmental organizations suspended work with Resolute on May 21, 2013 announcing that "Resolute will not do the minimum that the science says is required to protect our forests and the threatened caribou that call them home."{{cite news | url=https://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130521-909445.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs%3Darticle | work=The Wall Street Journal | title=Environmental groups suspend further work with Resolute Forest Products under Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement | date=2013-05-21 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Greenpeace Canada released a report examining Resolute's sustainability claims in May 2013, alleging that the company is deceiving customers about the sustainability of their forestry operations and their interactions with communities, First Nations and workers.{{Cite web |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/forests/boreal/Resources/Reports/Resolute-False-Promises-the-unsustainability-report-2013/ |title=Resolute False Promises: The [un]sustainability report 2013 | Greenpeace Canada |access-date=2013-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016200956/http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/forests/boreal/Resources/Reports/Resolute-False-Promises-the-unsustainability-report-2013/ |archive-date=2013-10-16 |url-status=dead }} Greenpeace withdrew an earlier criticism of Resolute Forest Products on 19 March 2013 noting that a December 2012 campaign against the company “incorrectly stated that Resolute had breached the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement”.{{cite news | title = Notice of correction regarding Resolute Forest Products' operations | url = http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/pr/2013/02/Notice_of_correction_regarding_Resolute_Forest_Products_operations.pdf | work = Greenpeace | date = 2013-03-19 | accessdate = 2013-07-05 | archive-date = 2013-05-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130512031251/http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/pr/2013/02/Notice_of_correction_regarding_Resolute_Forest_Products_operations.pdf | url-status = dead }}
On May 23, 2013, Resolute filed a $7,000,000 defamation lawsuit against Greenpeace Canada and two of its staff in Ontario Superior Court alleging the organization interfered with economic relations with their customers.{{cite news|title=Quebec forestry company suing Greenpeace for $7 million| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/06/24/quebec_forestry_company_suing_greenpeace_for_7_million.html | location=Toronto | work=The Star}} In response Greenpeace launched a legal defense fund and characterized the lawsuit as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). In September 2016, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed Resolute's defamation action on the grounds it was designed to "greatly expand the scope of the litigation and transform the trial into an inquiry into Greenpeace." The logging company responded saying the "court decision does not in any way diminish the claims against Greenpeace of defamation and intentional interference with commercial relations."{{cite news|url=http://business.financialpost.com/commodities/agriculture/court-dismisses-vexatious-allegations-by-resolute-forest-products-against-greenpeace/wcm/50d4b95f-c9e6-4fb0-aebf-cff1cbcfd538|title=Court dismisses 'vexatious' allegations by Resolute Forest Products against Greenpeace|newspaper=Financial Post|date=September 2, 2016}}
In May 2016, Resolute filed a $300 million-dollar lawsuit in Atlanta, Georgia using the United States' RICO Act (which is primarily for fighting organized crime and racketeering) against Greenpeace. The complaint alleges that the environmental group is a "global fraud" that is tricking people in both the US and around the world into donating "millions of dollars based on materially false and misleading claims about its purported environmental purpose and its “campaigns” against targeted companies."{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2016/05/complaint.pdf|title=RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS, INC. vs. GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL|work=www.washingtonpost.com|accessdate=June 21, 2017}} In January 2017, Greenpeace asked a court in Georgia for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that the company's use of RICO "is simply an intimidation tactic that would set a dangerous precedent if successful" because Resolute "is trying to silence critics of its logging practices in Canada's boreal forests."{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/01/24/resolute-greenpeace-lawsuit_n_14367358.html|title=Resolute, Canadian Forest Giant, Uses Trump-Linked Law Firm To Sue Greenpeace|publisher=Huffington Post|date=January 24, 2017}} In June 2017 several major book publishers including Penguin Random House and HarperCollins have had to respond to Resolute's RICO action after a petition, which was signed by more than 100 authors in support of Greenpeace, was presented at BookExpo 2017, the USA's publishing trade show. The petition's signatories are concerned that using RICO in this particular action is a legal attempt to stymie free speech.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/21/major-publishers-move-to-defend-greenpeace-in-dispute-with-logging-firm|title= Major publishers move to defend Greenpeace in dispute with logging firm|newspaper=The Guardian|date=21 June 2017}}
In 2019, the federal district court for the Northern District of California dismissed most of the claims by Resolute Forest Products and, in April 2022, the court ordered Resolute Forest Products to pay Greenpeace $800,000 in costs after Greenpeace brought an anti-SLAPP motion against the company.{{cite news|url=http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/case/resolute-forest-products-inc-v-greenpeace-international/|title=Forest Product Companies to Pay $800,000 in Attorney's Fees and Costs after Dismissal of RICO and Other Claims Against Greenpeace|publisher=Climate Change Litigation|access-date=8 April 2022|archive-date=17 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017033338/http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/case/resolute-forest-products-inc-v-greenpeace-international/|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.resolutefp.com}}
{{Finance links
| name = Resolute Forest Products Inc.
| symbol = RFP
| reuters = RFP.N
| bloomberg = RFP:US
| sec_cik = 1393066
| yahoo = RFP
| google = RFP
}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Category:Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Category:Companies based in Montreal
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009
Category:Pulp and paper companies of Canada
Category:Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada
Category:2007 mergers and acquisitions
Category:2023 mergers and acquisitions
Category:Manufacturing companies established in 2007