Federal Way, WA, June 30-- Weyerhaeuser will sell approximately 304,000 acres of timberlands in Georgia to four companies, officials announced today.
The sale includes Weyerhaeuser's 270,000 owned acres as well as a leasehold interest in a long term timberland lease covering approximately 34,000 acres.
Terms of the individual agreements were not disclosed, but Weyerhaeuser said the sales totaled approximately $404 million. The company will use proceeds from the sales primarily for debt repayment. The transactions are expected to close in the third quarter of 2004. The closings are subject to certain customary conditions. Details of the transaction will be available after the closings.
Upon completion of this transaction, the company will own or manage approximately 6.5 million acres of timberland in the United States. Weyerhaeuser, one of the world's largest owners of merchantable softwood timber, added 1.7 million acres to its portfolio with the Willamette acquisition in 2002.
The purchasers of the timberland are Virginia Forest Investment LLC from Hogansville and Macon, Georgia; Georgia Fall Line Properties LLC from Greensboro, Georgia; Southern Timber Consultants LLC from Perry, Georgia; and Copper Station Holdings #3 from Beaufort, South Carolina.
Weyerhaeuser will continue operating its other nine facilities in Georgia.
