Resolute loses three senior executives after its sale to Papier Excellence

2023-07-28 22:38:33

After joining Groupe Papier Excellence, the big boss of Resolute Forest Products is leaving the company. Two other senior executives do the same.

Resolute’s President and CEO, Rémi Lalonde, decided to leave the company on 1^is next September “to take up new challenges”, announced Papier Excellence in a press release on Friday. The chief financial officer, Sylvain Girard, and the senior vice-president of corporate affairs, Stéphanie Leclaire, will also leave their functions on the same date.

Papier Excellence completed the acquisition of Resolute in March 2023, a $2.7 billion transaction. The transaction made Papier Excellence a major player in the Quebec forest industry.

The announcement has no effect on the promise to maintain Resolute’s head office in Montreal, assures its spokesperson, Louis Bouchard. “The banners remain and the decision-making centers are also maintained, so Resolute and its management team remain in Montreal. »

The next head of the Pulp and Tissue business unit will be named at “a later date.” Chief Operating Officer, Richard Tremblay, and Senior Vice-President, Pulp and Tissue Paper Sales, John Lafave, will assume the interim. The President of Wood Products, Hugues Simon, remains at the head of this business unit.

Mr. Lalonde was entitled to a severance package estimated at 4.1 million, according to documents sent to shareholders before the transaction was concluded. The manager was also entitled to compensation of more than 11 million for the reimbursement of equity securities granted under a long-term incentive plan.

When the transaction was announced last year, Mr. Lalonde said that the acquisition of the Montreal company by Papier Excellence was good news for Quebec. He pointed out that the company would have access to more financial resources.

At the end of October, however, Papier Excellence had been subject to of a critical report of the environmental association Greenpeace. The report says the company is said to have an opaque structure and links to companies criticized for poor environmental practices. Paper Excellence rejected the report’s findings.