Up to 50 workers and contractors at Carter Holt Harvey's Rotorua Profiles plant have been thrown a lifeline after being told a private investor was in the process of buying the timber processing operation.
On November 22, workers were told Carter Holt Harvey was proposing to close the plant on December 20, with another 18 jobs on the line at the company's plywood processing plant in Tokoroa.
The company cited a fall in demand from export markets in Australia and the decline of new building work in New Zealand as the reason for the proposed redundancies.
But at a meeting on Monday staff were told a prospective buyer had been found for the Rotorua operation.
Site safety supervisor Daniel Mathew said staff were spoken to yesterday by Wellington-based businessman William Giesbers, who said he had almost completed a deal to take over the plant.