Sino-Forest Corp. Increases Investment in Omnicorp Ltd. of Hong Kong

Toronto-based Sino-Forest Corporation, a commercial forest plantation operator in China, announced that it has entered into a share subscription agreement with Hong Kong-based investment holding company, Omnicorp Limited. Sino-Forest will purchase a total of 230 million subscription shares in Omnicorp for approximately US$53.7 million. Upon completion of the agreement, Sino-Forest will increase its voting interest in Omnicorp from 19.9% to approximately 53.7% of the enlarged issued share capital of Omnicorp. Sino-Forest also holds HK$212.3 million of existing convertible bonds of Omnicorp that were acquired in November 2007 and February 2009. Assuming full conversion of the existing convertible bonds and the completion of the agreement, Sino-Forest will own approximately 60.1% of the enlarged issued share capital of Omnicorp. The principal activities of Omnicorp’s subsidiaries consist of log harvesting, lumber processing, marketing and sales of logs and lumber products.