Graeme Rodden

The announcement that Jackson Wijaya, founder of Paper Excellence (now Domtar) will assume full control of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has reignited the controversy over the connections between the two. …Jennifer Johnson said the move was simply part of the elder Wijaya’s normal course succession planning. She stressed that Jackson has no intention of taking his father’s position overseeing APP. “Importantly, APP and Domtar will continue to operate as they always have: as distinct entities.” …In its latest release, the company did not pull any punches. “…. Jackson’s inheriting APP shares has no impact whatsoever on Domtar and any suggestion to the contrary is ill-informed and patently false.” It seems there is little the Canadian government can do, even if it wanted to. As it is a separate legal entity from Domtar and headquartered in China and Indonesia, any change in APP’s ownership is not subject to the Investment Canada Act.