At AbitibiBowater's first annual stockholders' meeting in Montreal on June 5, John W. Weaver announced his retirement as executive chairman of the company, effective July 1. He will continue to serve as non-executive chairman and a member of the board until March 31, 2009.

Seth Kursman, vice-president, communications and government affairs for the company, says it wants to divest a total of $750 million worth of assets by the end of 2008; that's up from $500 million announced earlier this year. He also confirmed its South Korean paper mill, plus forestland, sawmills and hydroelectric sites elsewhere would be part of the selloff. It suffered a 1Q08 loss of $248 million.