Woodbois announced the purchase by Woodbois Gabon of La Gabonaise des Forêts et de l'Industrie du Bois "LGFIB" thereby acquiring an additional 71,000 hectares of forest in Gabon for a consideration of US$1.5m, payable as follows: $900k upon completion and $150k per quarter from October 2021 until July 2022.
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o liabilities have been assumed in the acquisition.
This acquisition increases the Company's forest in Gabon by 75% to over 166,000 hectares.
In May, the Company announced that it was in the final stages of due diligence regarding the purchase of 56,000 hectares of forest in Mimongo, close to its existing operations. This purchase has now been increased to 71,000 hectares. Of this, 56,000 hectares has an existing approved management plan in place for harvesting.
The additional 15,000 hectares can only be approved as part of a parcel of 50,000 hectares or more and the Company will seek to acquire further forest in due course to achieve this size and to support future expansion plans.
The Company will include all of the newly acquired hectarage within its current Legal Source and FSC Certification application processes.
Chair and CEO Paul Dolan commented: "I am delighted that our team in Gabon has been able to successfully complete this strategically important acquisition, utilising part of the proceeds of the May equity raise.
"This additional hectarage, which is located within 100km of our manufacturing base in Mouila, will provide the increased levels of sustainably harvested timber required as additional production capacity comes online at our sawmill and veneer factory over the next eighteen months, in turn generating additional employment opportunities for the local community." ■
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