All I can say is, "Fuck."

Just when things seemed like they might be settling down from Lignum being bought out by Riverside, Tolko has initiated a take-over attempt on Riverside.

Riverside Forest Products balks at $220M takeover bid by Tolko Industries

KELOWNA, B.C. - Riverside Forest Products Ltd., the fourth-largest lumber producer in British Columbia, is balking at a $220-million takeover bid by a company that already owns 19.9 per cent of the Kelowna company.

Riverside Forest (TSX:RFP) said Wednesday that Tolko Industries Ltd., a privately held firm in Vernon, B.C., is offering $29 a share for the remaining stock it doesn't [already own].

Riverside said its board of directors "has concluded the proposal significantly undervalues Riverside and would not be in the best interests of the company or its shareholders."

In response to the bid, Riverside said its board has hired BMO Nesbitt Burns and Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. as its financial advisers and directed them to seek other offers.

"Riverside has informed Tolko it is amenable to pursuing further discussions of its interest as part of that process," the company said in a release.

The board has also appointed a special committee made up of three independent directors to oversee the strategic review.

Riverside Forest is also the second-largest plywood and veneer producer in Canada.

On the Toronto stock market Wednesday, Riverside Forest shares were unchanged at $23.50.

This has set a ball in motion. The company will end up with a a significant change in stockholders no matter what now. Tolko already owns 19.9% of Riverside and there is enough stock out there held by investors that they can buy up enough additional stock to get control of the company. The only thing that can prevent that is someone else making a better offer. That leaves one of three outcomes:

1. Sale: Riverside holdings become divisions under another company under that company's corporate management,
2. Merger: Riverside becomes an autonomous or semi-autonomous division under another company, retaining most of the current management but ultimately answering to the parent company, or
3. Refinancing: Riverside finds new financial investors and retains its corporate identity and autonomy.

There's no telling which way it will go at this point.

A couple weeks ago I had an e-mail from the same headhunters that placed me here 2½ years ago. I called them back today.