American investors acquire Toronto lumber giant Weston Forest
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ONTARIO - Weston Forest, a distributor and remanufacturer of softwood and hardwood lumber and specialty panel products, has been acquired by the Watermill Group, a Massachusetts-based private investment firm.
 
“This is a historic event for everyone at Weston Forest,” said Steve Rhone, President, Weston Forest. “Our partnership with the Watermill Group will give us the strategic expertise and financial resources we need to help us enter the next phase of our growth. Watermill’s culture and values are an excellent fit with ours, and this strategic move will allow us to continue to offer a diverse range of products and services to our customers and suppliers, while providing more opportunity to our employees.” The Weston Forest executive team remains heavily invested in the company.
 
“Weston Forest is an exceptional organization that has shown significant and sustained growth over the last decade,” said Julia Karol, President and COO, Watermill Group. “We are looking forward to partnering with Weston’s talented and deeply knowledgeable management team, providing the tools and financial support needed to accelerate growth.”
 
Weston operates three facilities in the Toronto area, and one in Michigan. The company remanufactures and distributes softwood lumber, hardwood lumber, and panel products to the industrial and construction sectors throughout North America. It acquired fellow Ontario-based Monterra Lumber Mills in August 2020.
 
The company has been recognized repeatedly by Deloitte as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, by the Canadian Business Growth 500 as one of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies, by Waterstone Human Capital as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures, and by Excellence Canada as a recipient of its Canadian Business Excellence Award for Private Businesses.
 
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Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].