Bowater stockholders approve merger

“This is an historic day for Bowater, and I am very pleased that our stockholders have expressed their strong support for our proposed combination with Abitibi – Consolidated,” said David J. Paterson, Bowater’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Together, we will have a better positioned company that will offer stockholders a chance to participate in the significant upside of a financially and competitively stronger company. Combining with Abitibi will position us to generate substantial synergies, improve our financial flexibility and strengthen our competitiveness, all of which we expect will deliver value to our stakeholders.”

The proposed merger-of–equals between Bowater and Abitibi, which was announced on January 29, 2007, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2007, pending the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. It is expected that upon the completion of the merger, the common stock of the combined company – AbitibiBowater Inc. will trade on the New York Stock Exchange and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ABH.”

Bowater also announced that stockholders voted to elect to the Board of Directors nominees Arthur R. Sawchuk, Richard B. Evans and Gordon D. Giffin and ratified the appointment of KPMG LLP as Bowater’s independent registered public accounting firm.

All of the votes tallied from the Bowater annual meeting are considered preliminary until certified by the independent inspector of elections.