NEUMARKT, GERMANY -- The Pfleiderer Group, the struggling German-based wood composite panel produce that is going through a massive debt restructuring, announced it is looking to sell its North American business.

Pfleiderer owns Uniboard of Laval QC, and Pergo laminate flooring of Garner, NC. Uniboard operates five particleboard and MDF mills in North America, four of them in Canada and one in Moncure, NC.

The company's financial report released today noted, "In the interim report published today on the first half of 2011, the available-for-sale North American business is presented for the first time separately as discontinued operations, in line with the provisions of IFRS; the corresponding prior-year figures have been adjusted for comparability."

Pfleiderer said first-half revenue for "continuing operations, excluding buiness in North America," was up 9.4% to 595 million euros ($805.5 million).  

The release also stated, "The North American business, which is available for sale and presented as discontinued operations, recorded a revenue decrease in the second quarter of 13.4 percent compared with the prior-year period from 104.9 million euros ($142.2 million)to 90.8 million euros ($123.1 million).

Woodworking Network sent an e-mail to the press contact for Pfleiderer AG and placed a phone call to a contact at Uniboard to gather additional information about the intended sale of North American assets. Neither party responded at the time this article was posted.

Pfleiderer said it has reduced its worldwide workforce, including North America, from 5,579 on June 30, 2010 to 5,177 on June 30, 2011. Many of those jobs were eliminated by the closing of three plants in Germany. The company noted that its North American workforce has been reduced 13.0% to 1,094 during that same one-year time frame.

Recently, Pfleiderer, along with several other German wood composite panel manufacturers, was fined by the German Federal Cartel Office for price fixing wood panel products.