/EINPresswire.com/ -- VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug 2, 2017) - Western Forest Products Inc. (TSX:WEF) ("Western" or the "Company") announced today that it has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") to launch a normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") to purchase for cancellation up to 19,778,383 of its common shares, representing approximately 5% of the common shares issued and outstanding as of August 1, 2017 395,567,663 common shares).

The NCIB, which will begin on August 8, 2017 and end no later than August 7, 2018, unless completed or terminated earlier, will be conducted through open market transactions through the facilities of the TSX or other Canadian marketplaces or alternative trading systems and will conform to their rules and regulations. The price to be paid by Western for any common share will be the market price at the time of acquisition. Western has not purchased any common shares within the last 12 months.

The average daily trading volume of Western's common shares over the six month period ending July 31, 2017, as calculated per the TSX rules, was 889,742 common shares. Consequently, under TSX rules, Western will be allowed to purchase daily, through the facilities of the TSX, a maximum of 222,435 common shares representing 25% of such average daily trading volume, subject to certain exceptions for block purchases. All shares purchased pursuant to the NCIB will be cancelled.

The Company believes that, from time to time, the market price of its common shares may be attractive and their purchase would represent a desirable use of its capital to increase shareholder value.

About Western Forest Products Inc.

Western is an integrated Canadian forest products company and is the largest coastal British Columbia woodland operator and lumber producer. The Company has an annual available harvest of approximately 6.1 million cubic metres of timber, of which approximately 5.9 million cubic metres is from Crown lands. Western has a lumber capacity in excess of 1.1 billion board feet from seven sawmills and one remanufacturing plant. Principal activities conducted by the Company include timber harvesting, reforestation, sawmilling logs into lumber and wood chips, and value-added remanufacturing. Substantially all of Western's operations, employees and corporate facilities are located in the coastal region of British Columbia, with sales worldwide.