Third Avenue Management Receives Investment Canada Approval On Shares Offer For Catalyst Paper

New York, New York, USA, 19 October 2006 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Third Avenue Management LLC (TAM) announced today that Investment Canada has approved the firm's application with respect to its general tender offer to acquire up to 39,000,000 shares of the outstanding common shares of Catalyst Paper Corporation (TSX: CTL).

Under the terms of the offer, the shares will be acquired for CAD 3.30 per share by CTOE LLC, a special purpose acquisition entity established at TAM's request. This approval removes the last regulatory condition to the offer and will enable CTOE LLC to take up those shares tendered under the terms of the offer when it expires on 20 October.

TAM also acknowledges that the board of directors of Catalyst has announced that it has terminated the company's shareholder rights plan and redeemed all outstanding rights in accordance with the plan. The plan, which is commonly referred to as a "poison pill," was initially adopted to prevent Catalyst shareholders from tendering shares to the offer. The termination of the plan permits Catalyst shareholders to take advantage of the offer.

The offer represents a 21.1% premium to Catalyst's 20-day volume-weighted average price prior to the original announcement of the offer on 25 July 2006. Following a two-month review, Catalyst's board of directors announced on 06 October 2006, that they were unable to find a more attractive transaction.

In making the announcement, Keith Purchase, chairman of the Catalyst board of directors, stated, "Over the past two months, the board has thoroughly evaluated a full range of alternatives to the Third Avenue offer. Given the difficult industry conditions, those alternatives were limited and the board has concluded that an attractive alternative transaction is not available at this time. Having completed this process, the board is terminating the rights plan to enable our shareholders to participate in Third Avenue's offer should they wish to do so."

How to Tender Shares

The offer circular and related documents have been filed in Canada on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Shareholders considering tendering shares to the offer should read the circular carefully. D.F. King & Co., Inc. has been retained as the information agent in connection with the offer. Questions and requests for assistance may be directed to the information agent at the following toll-free telephone number: 1-888-628-1041 (North America); U.S. banks and brokers may call collect: 1-212-269-5550.

Shareholders who do decide to accept the offer will have to deposit the shares that they propose to tender before the offer expires, which currently is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. (Vancouver/Pacific time) on 20 October 2006.

About TAM

TAM is an investment advisory firm that offers its services to mutual funds, private, and institutional clients. TAM adheres to a disciplined bottom-up value investment strategy to identify investment opportunities in undervalued securities of companies with high quality assets, understandable businesses, and strong management teams that have the potential to create value over the long term. TAM has approximately $24 billion in assets under management and offers value-oriented strategies, through mutual funds, separate accounts and alternative investment vehicles.

Third Avenue Funds are offered in the United States by prospectus only and are not qualified for distribution in Canada. Prospectuses contain more complete information on advisory fees, distribution charges, and other expenses.

Source: Third Avenue Management LLC