Litehouse may expand onto 25 acres
Sandpoint Litehouse Inc. is considering buying 25 acres near the Sandpoint Airport to expand its production facilities.
“We’ve been growing continuously for the last several years,” said Doug Hawkins, company president. “We’re running out of room in our current facility.”
Litehouse makes refrigerated salad dressing and dips. It employs about 400 people in Sandpoint.
Hawkins said he’s in a period of “due diligence” on the property, located on the west side of the airport, adjacent to the Great Northern Road. The land is currently in agricultural use.
If the sale goes through, the first phase of construction would begin next year, Hawkins said. The first building would include cold storage and shipping facilities. The airport site could eventually include corporate offices as well, Hawkins said.
No agreement for U.S., Canada on lumber
Washington U.S. and Canadian officials ended three days of negotiations without an agreement about softwood lumber shipments, but said they look forward to more talks.
The discussions were based on proposals exchanged earlier this year, with Canada seeking an end to U.S. lumber duties and American officials seeking more market-oriented policies in provincial forestry.
A joint statement released Wednesday said the two sides plan to meet Aug. 22 in Ottawa after consulting with government and industry officials.
British Columbia Forests Minister Rich Coleman, whose province supplies half of Canada’s softwood lumber exports to the United States, said he was encouraged that the two sides seem willing to continue talks.
But Coleman said some Canadian officials were taken aback by an unexpectedly tough U.S. proposal, which reportedly included a higher lumber export tax to replace U.S. duties that date to mid-2002.
Canadian lumber exporters are paying about 21 percent in combined countervailing and anti-dumping duties, imposed in May 2002 after the U.S. Commerce Department accepted domestic claims that Canadian softwood was unfairly subsidized.
Toys ‘R’ Us goes private after $6.6 billion deal
Newark, N.J. After more than a quarter-century as a public company, Toys “R” Us Inc. is now a privately held corporation.
The $6.6 billion acquisition of the nation’s second-largest toy seller was completed Thursday by two private equity firms, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Bain Capital Inc., and a real estate developer, Vornado Realty Trust. All have equal stakes.
The deal, announced March 17, gave stockholders $26.75 a share, and had been expected to close at the end of July. The purchase includes all worldwide operations of Wayne-based Toys “R” Us., including the Babies “R” Us business.
“Our new owners share the management team’s commitment to building on the many strengths of Toys ‘R’ Us as the premier specialty retailer of toys, children’s and babies’ products in the world,” said Richard Markee, interim CEO for Toys “R” Us and president of Babies “R” Us.
The company has about 1,300 toy stores and 220 Babies “R” Us stores.