TimberWest Forest Corp.: DBRS Discontinues Stability Rating on TimberWest

DBRS has today discontinued the stability rating of TimberWest Forest Corp. (TWF or the Company). On December 19, 2008, TWF obtained unitholder approval for a modification to the Series A Subordinate Note (Note) component of the Company’s stapled units, which will move to a variable rate of 2% to 12% in lieu of the previous 12% fixed rate. TWF is allowed to defer distributions for a period of 18 months and also has the option of paying the distributions in the form of cash or shareholder units. The Company has announced it will defer the January 2009 distribution and subsequent distributions until market conditions improve.

The modifications to the Note have significantly changed the characteristics of the distributions by the Company to the noteholders. The stability rating assigned to the Company no longer reflects the new conditions associated with the Note. Consequently, DBRS has decided to discontinue the stability rating.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The applicable methodology is Rating the Forest Products Industry which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

This is a Corporate rating.