Western Forest Products Inc. is buying Cascadia Forest Products Ltd, the two companies announced Friday.
Cascadia currently operates TFL 39, which covers a vast portion of Graham Island, which it acquired from Weyerhaeuser earlier this year.
Cory Delves, contract supervisor at Cascadia's Juskatla office, said employees learned of the deal late Thursday night.
Mr. Delves said the sale shouldn't make much difference to operations on the islands, although there is talk that some mills down south will be shut down as a result.
"I don't see anything changing in operation on island here," he said. "We just have another owner, that's all."
Port mayor Dale Lore said the sale wasn't a surprise, and may lead to positive changes for the forestry-dependent town.
"It's got to mean an improvement," Mr. Lore said, adding that WFP - which recently shed its Sewell Inlet operation - may not be that interested in working on the islands, and could possibly sell the Juskatla operation. "It makes it easier for local control."
The deal, which should be completed in the next few months, includes four sawmills and four remanufacturing facilities on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, and 3.6-million cubic metres of annual harvest rights on crown land. Cascadia's assets will make WFP the biggest forest company on the coast, according to the Vancouver Sun.