Santiago, Chile, 08 October 2008 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Masisa S.A. (Santiago Stock Exchange: MASISA) has started a process to tender a sawmill it owns in Rio Negrinho, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

The sawmill has an infrastructure dating back to 1999 and a production capacity of 220,000 cubic meters of sawn lumber a year. It also includes a fingerjoint moulding line with a production capacity of 90,000 cubic meters a year and a co-generation plant with a capacity of 3750 kVA.

This tender is expected to include the option of receiving tie-in bids for the sawmill alone or this along with the company's forestry lands nearby. These forestry lands consist of a total approximate area of 13,511 hectares of lands and an approximate surface area of 7140 planted hectares, mainly planted with Taeda pine, located in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

The tender process will start on 15 October and is expected to be completed in the last few days of December 2008 or early in January 2009. Masisa has the right to declare the tender process void if the bids fail to meet its expectations.

"For Masisa the objective of this possible sale is to continue to focus on its core wood board business that is commensurate with its strategy, and generate resources to finance a three-year forestry investment plan, in the meantime paying off financial liabilities," said Masisa CEO Enrique Cibie.

The company will continue its growth strategy in Brazil and the rest of Latin America. Approval was given in September 2007 to build a medium density particleboard (MDP) mill at Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, which is scheduled to start up in the second quarter of 2009 and entails an approximate investment of BRN 223 million. The construction of this mill is progressing according to schedule.

About Masisa

Masisa is a leading furniture and interior architecture board production and marketing company in Latin America. It owns forest assets in most of the region, thereby guaranteeing the raw material for its board business. Masisa's value proposal is to be a reliable brand, and a company close to all its stakeholders, anticipating market needs by means of product and service innovation, and operating responsibly towards society and the environment.

Masisa has 13 production plants in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico, all of which will have the ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification. Masisa is currently building an MDP plant in Montenegro, Brazil, that will have an annual production capacity of 750,000 cubic meters of MDP and an annual melaminating capacity of 300,000 cubic meters. This plant will be the company's largest plant in Latin America, mainly for supply to the Brazilian market.

Masisa has three other divisions that operate in synergy with its core board division: forestry, solid wood, and retail.

Masisa is a publicly traded corporation and its shares are traded on the Santiago Stock Exchange. The company had total sales of approximately USD 966 million in 2007.