AbitibiBowater has completed the sale of private timberlands in Quebec.
The debt-laden paper giant sold 74,724 hectares of private lands for $70 million. In a Feb. 20 news release, the company intends to use the money for "general corporate purposes."
The properties, located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, were sold to a newly formed limited partnership composed of Dion and Fils Inc., a sawmill operator, and Solifor, a forest management group.
The company wants to chop its $6 billion debt by selling $750 million worth of assets by year's end including hydro electric assets attached to paper mills.