Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 11 January 2009 -- Georgia-Pacific announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Grant Forest Products' oriented strand board (OSB) facility at Englehart, Ontario, Canada, the associated facility at Earlton, Ontario, and its OSB facilities at Allendale and Clarendon, South Carolina, for approximately USD 400 million.

Grant Forest Products intends to seek approval of the agreement in the near future from the Canadian Court overseeing Grant's Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act case and a United States Bankruptcy Court.

"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, Georgia-Pacific Wood Products. "We look forward to closing this deal and having these facilities, and the employees who operate them, join the Georgia-Pacific family."

Georgia-Pacific intends to operate the OSB manufacturing facilities that employ more than 300 people in Ontario and at Allendale, South Carolina. At the Clarendon plant, Georgia-Pacific plans to complete the unfinished construction and begin operations as soon as market conditions allow, which will entail employing more than 100 people in Clarendon County. In addition, Georgia-Pacific plans to make capital investments worth several million dollars to improve facilities and deliver enhanced reliability and efficiencies.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2010, following appropriate U.S.and Canadian regulatory review and court approval.

Headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific is one of the world's leading manufacturers and marketers of building products, tissue, packaging, paper, cellulose, and related chemicals. The company employs more than 40,000 people at more than 300 locations in North America, South America, and Europe. The company has long been among the nation's leading manufacturers and suppliers of building products to lumber and building materials dealers and large do-it-yourself warehouse retailers. For more information, visit www.gp.com.