Coillte today confirmed that it completed the acquisition of Louisiana-Pacific's 65% shareholding in Louisiana Pacific Coillte Ireland Ltd on 1 May. Coillte now owns 100% of LPCI which will shortly be renamed SmartPly Europe Ltd. The necessary clearance for the transaction under the Mergers and Takeovers Acts was received on 10 April. The consideration is not being disclosed.

According to Martin Lowery, Chief Executive of Coillte this acquisition is an important strategic move for Coillte as it will take the company into the international forest products business which is a logical and necessary next step in the commercialisation of the Group. The acquisition will secure the future of the most important outlet for pulpwood from Irish forests and it will benefit the wider wood-processing sector by providing outlets for pulpwood, releasing additional volumes of sawlog for sawmills and underpinning demand for residual products from sawmilling operations.

Commenting on the future of SmartPly Europe Mr. Lowery said that demand for OSB (Oriented Strand Board) in Europe is growing at about 30% per annum. This has been recognised by the major European wood panel producers who have added substantial additional capacity to capitalise on this market. Coillte expects that as supply and demand come into balance current low prices will recover. This will enable the company to reverse the losses incurred during the start-up phase and grow profitably in line with growth in the market.

Further information:
Gerry Egan, Coillte 01 6635277, 086 2591409
Lou Hess, Smartply 051 851233, 087 2344255

• SmartPly Europe Ltd. manufactures Oriented Strand Board (OSB) at Belview Port, in Kilkenny (near Waterford City). SmartPly is the brand name for the company's OSB products.
• The plant supplies an innovative wood panel product called OSB which is used widely in the construction industry. The output from the Belview plant is sold primarily in the UK, Ireland and the Benelux countries.
• The company is the biggest user of pulpwood in Ireland. Pulpwood comprises smaller sized logs harvested from the forest. It employs 500 people directly and indirectly - 170 (95% in Ireland) direct employees in manufacturing, logistics, sales and distribution and 330 indirectly in timber harvesting and haulage. The company has sales offices in Ireland, the UK and Holland.

Coillte is the State forestry company which has net assets in excess of €1 billion. The company owns 440,000 hectares of forest land from which it harvests some 2.8 million m3 of timber annually.