After denying connections for years, the owner of Canada’s largest pulp and paper company is set to take over a controversial Southeast Asian forestry conglomerate currently owned by his father.
According to a notice submitted to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition on Nov. 15, Jackson Wijaya, the owner of Canada’s Paper Excellence Group (recently rebranded as Domtar), is set to acquire direct control over Asia Pulp & Paper, or APP. The forestry giant APP is currently owned by Jackson Wijaya’s father, Indonesian-Singaporean businessman Teguh Ganda Wijaya (also known as Oei Tjie Goan), and says on its website that it exports its products to six continents.
Both companies have repeatedly denied any operational links to one another for years, even as Paper Excellence’s ownership structure came under government scrutiny in Canada last year. The Canadian parliament launched a probe in April 2023, following the ICIJ-led Deforestation Inc. investigation, which revealed ties between the two companies.
The Indonesia-headquartered APP is one of the world’s largest pulp and paper producers, and has long been plagued by accusations of environmental destruction, deforestation and human rights abuses. The company was stripped of its Forest Stewardship Council sustainability certification in 2007, the same year Paper Excellence began operating its first pulp mill in Canada.
A Paper Excellence spokesperson told Canadian media outlets that the latest development is part of “normal course succession planning” by the senior Wijaya. But the news of the takeover has drawn concerns from some Canadian lawmakers.
“We got completely played for suckers by a very dubious company,” parliamentarian Charlie Angus told ICIJ’s partner CBC/Radio Canada.
“I don’t think the Canadian government would have ever allowed Asia Pulp & Paper [to buy Domtar and Resolute, two forestry companies acquired by Paper Excellence] because of its dubious record. So the family sets up another company. The family says, ‘Oh, we’re not connected in any way.’ Despite the obvious connections, they get.… to buy Canadian resources. So we are in a position that was entirely predictable,” Angus said.
The announcement comes less than a week after Canada and Indonesia signed a free trade pact, ICIJ partner Glacier Media reported.
A spokesperson for Domtar (the new name of Paper Excellence since last month) told Glacier Media that Jackson Wijaya’s appointment was recently made and that “Jackson could not have foreseen the timing since this is the wish and decision of his father.”
“Importantly, Mr. Wijaya will not hold any leadership position within APP, and APP and Domtar will continue to operate as they always have — as distinct entities, each with its own management teams and governance structures,” said Jennifer Johnson, Domtar’s vice-president of global communications.
Paper Excellence reportedly controls millions of acres of Canadian forest. Last year, Deforestation Inc. reporters in Canada and France found evidence suggesting Paper Excellence and APP share a deeper relationship than was previously reported.
ICIJ partners interviewed former employees and analyzed shipping and court records and corporate documents spanning 15 years. They also reviewed leaked emails that showed staff worked freely between the two companies.
In June 2023, Canadian lawmakers asked Jackson Wijaya to attend a meeting of the Committee on Natural Resources. Wijaya didn’t show up, sending four company executives in his place and a letter.
By The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
