Grant forest products.

• Position: IN BRIEF

Atlanta, GA-based Georgia-Pacific (GP) has signed an agreement to acquire several of Grant Forest Oriented Strand Board (OSB) facilities. The $400M deal will see GP take over Grant's Englehart, Ont plant and the associated facility at Earlton along with the OSB facilities in Allendale and Clarendon, S.C.

Grant Forest Products intends to seek approval for the agreement from the Canadian Court overseeing Grant's Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act case and a United States Bankruptcy Court. The process is expected to conclude in the first half of 2010.

"These are world-class facilities that fit strategically with our current wood products operations and we are pleased with this opportunity to grow our OSB business in Canada and the U.S.," said Mark Luetters, president of Georgia-Pacific Wood Products in a release.

Georgia-Pacific intends to operate the OSB manufacturing facilities in Ontario and at Allendale, which will employ about 300 people. Georgia-Pacific plans to make capital investments worth several million dollars to improve the facilities and deliver enhanced reliability...