Cambior closes Sequoia acquisition (July 19, 2004)

Cambior (CBJ-T) has signed workers at the Niobec niobium mine in St-Honore, Que., to a 4-year collective agreement.

The deal covers hourly, clerical and technical employees, and includes wage increases of about 10% over its lifetime. The new deal is retroactive to May 1, 2004, and also includes improvements to several benefits.

The new labour pact comes with the ink barely dry on Cambior’s acquisition of Sequoia Minerals. That deal saw Cambior offer Sequoia shareholders the option of 60 for each of its shares or one of its own shares for every 6.3 Sequoia shares. In the end, Cambior paid $55.2 million in cash and issued some 2.2 million shares to make Sequoia its wholly owned subsidiary and consolidate ownership of Niobec, in which Sequoia owns a half-interest.

Niobec is North America’s sole niobium producer and the world’s third-largest. For 2003, the operation reported sales of US$44.4 million.