Abitibi-Consolidated Prices Offering of US$450 Million of 10-Year Notes

Abitibi-Consolidated Prices Offering of US$450 Million of 10-Year
Notes 


MONTREAL, March 22  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. today
agreed to issue US$450 million of 8.375% Notes due 2015 (the "Notes"). The
Notes will be offered and sold in a public offering in the United States only.
The Notes were priced at par to yield 8.375%. The Notes will be issued by
Abitibi- Consolidated Company of Canada ("ACCC"), and will be unconditionally
guaranteed by Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. (the "Company"). The offering is
expected to close on or about March 28, 2005, subject to customary conditions.
The Notes will bear interest at the rate of 8.375% per annum, payable semi-
annually in arrears, and will mature on April 1, 2015, unless redeemed or
repurchased earlier.

The net proceeds from the offering will be used to repurchase for cash any and
all of the Company's US$401 million of 8.30% notes due August 1, 2005 and a
portion, if any, of ACCC's US$300 million of 6.95% notes due December 15, 2006
pursuant to tender offers launched on March 3, 2005 and to pay premiums, fees
and expenses related to the tender offers. Any remaining proceeds from the
offering will be used for other general corporate purposes, which may include
the repurchase or repayment of other indebtedness, including repurchasing from
time to time notes not tendered and purchased pursuant to the tender offers.

The Notes are being underwritten by a syndicate led by Citigroup Global Markets
Inc. as lead bookrunner and Credit Suisse First Boston LLC as joint bookrunner.
The prospectus and prospectus supplement relating to the Notes may be obtained
from Citigroup Global Markets Inc.'s prospectus department, located at 140,
58th Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11220 or Credit Suisse First Boston LLC's prospectus
department, located at One Madison Avenue, Level 1B, New York, NY 10010, or by
faxing a request to 212-325-8057.

The Notes will be sold in the United States pursuant to a shelf registration
statement declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Notes are not qualified for sale in Canada or any other jurisdiction and
may not be offered, sold or delivered in any such jurisdiction except in
compliance with applicable laws.

Abitibi-Consolidated is a global leader in newsprint and uncoated groundwood
(value-added groundwood) papers as well as a major producer of wood products,
generating sales of $5.8 billion in 2004. The Company owns or is a partner in
26 paper mills, 22 sawmills, 5 remanufacturing facilities and 1 engineered wood
facility in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., South Korea, China and Thailand. With
approximately 14,000 employees, excluding its PanAsia joint venture,
Abitibi-Consolidated does business in approximately 70 countries. Responsible
for the forest management of close to 18 million hectares of woodlands, the
Company is committed to the sustainability of the natural resources in its
care. Abitibi-Consolidated is also the world's largest recycler of newspapers
and magazines, serving 16 metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States
and 130 local authorities in the United Kingdom, with 14 recycling centres in
North America and approaching 20,000 Paper Retriever(R) and paper bank
containers. 

DATASOURCE: ABITIBI-CONSOLIDATED INC.



CONTACT: Investors & Financial Media: Lorne Gorber,

Director, Investor Relations & Financial Communications, [phone]

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