Louisiana-Pacific ends plans to buy Ainsworth

Building products company Louisiana-Pacific Corp. said Wednesday that it is ending its plan to buy Ainsworth Lumber after Canadian regulators said the deal would hurt competition and supplies for a type of wood board used to construct and renovate homes.

The announcement sent shares of Louisiana-Pacific down 72 cents, or 4.5 percent, to close at $15.14 Wednesday.

Louisiana-Pacific first announced a deal to buy Canadian company Ainsworth in September. It offered $1.1 billion for Ainsworth, which included its debt.

"We believe this transaction would have led to positive outcomes for customers, employees and shareholders, and fundamentally disagree with the analysis by antitrust agencies of the competitive dynamics of our industry," said Louisiana-Pacific's CEO Curt Stevens, in a statement.

Both Louisiana-Pacific, which is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. make oriented strand board, which are sheets made from pressed wood chips and used for home construction.

Louisiana-Pacific said that trying to get regulatory approval would require "expensive litigation" and selling off some of its businesses.