PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Willamette Industries (NYSE: WLL)
today announced that, following an evaluation of its strategic alternatives,
its Board has determined to continue negotiations with Georgia-Pacific Corp.
(NYSE: GP) regarding a combination of both companies' building materials
businesses. The Board also announced that it would reject the $55 per share
offer by Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) as inadequate and terminate
discussions with Weyerhaeuser regarding its offer. The Board strongly urges
Willamette shareholders not to tender any shares to Weyerhaeuser.
Chairman of the Board, William Swindells, said, "Following close
examination of our options, the Board has decided that a transaction with
Georgia-Pacific will deliver significant value to Willamette and is in the
best interests of our shareholders. During our discussions with Weyerhaeuser
and its advisors, we made a good faith effort at establishing a constructive
dialogue and provided information regarding synergies, which we estimate to be
in excess of $400 million. However, it became clear to us that Weyerhaeuser
would not consider our new information and were not willing to increase their
offer, which we continue to believe is inadequate."
Willamette Industries is an integrated forest products company with
105 plants, located in the U.S., France, Ireland and Mexico. The Company owns
1.7 million acres of forestland in the U.S. and manages it sustainably to
produce building materials, composite wood panels, fine paper, office paper
products, and corrugated packaging and grocery bags.
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any
such forward looking statement made by Willamette with respect to the
Weyerhaeuser tender offer is not entitled to the benefit of the safe harbor
protections of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and actual
results could differ materially from those projected. Such risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the effect of general economic
conditions; the level of new housing starts and remodeling activity; the
availability and terms of financing for construction; competitive factors,
including pricing pressures; the cost and availability of wood fiber; the
effect of natural disasters on the Company's timberlands; construction delays;
risk of nonperformance by third parties; and the impact of environmental
regulations and other costs associated with complying with such regulations.
Please refer to Willamette Industries' Securities and Exchange Commission
filings for further information.
SOURCE Willamette Industries
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Related links:
http://www.wii.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/971763.html
CONTACT:
Greg Hawley, EVP & CFO, +1-503-273-5640, or
Jackie Lang, Communications Manager, +1-503-721-2769, both of
Willamette Industries; or Paul Verbinnen, David Reno or Jim
Barron, all of Citigate Sard Verbinnen, +1-212-687-8080, for
Willamette Industries
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