Lavington pellet plant part of larger sale to UK-based company

Photo: File photo

U.K.-based Drax Group has finalized purchase of Pinnacle Pellet.

The Pinnacle Pellet Plant in Lavington is officially under new ownership.

U.K.-based Drax Group has finalized its purchase of Pinnacle, which operates the North Okanagan facility as well as eight such facilities operated by Pinnacle throughout Western Canada.

The combined company will have 17 pellet plants, four deep-water sea ports, and 4.9 million tonnes of production capacity by 2022.

Pinnacle employs nearly 500 people in North America, with about half located in B.C.

The $831-million sale received strong support from both sides of the table, with 95.97 per cent of Pinnacle and 99.99 per cent of Drax shareholders approving the deal.

Drax says the purchase makes it the world's leading sustainable bioenergy generation and supply business.

Drax operates the world's largest sustainable power station fuelled by bioenergy in the U.K., while Pinnacle is a major producer and supplier of compressed wood pellets.

Pinnacle will operate as a subsidiary of Drax and will keep its head office in B.C.