NEW YORK, April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
U.S. Timberlands Company, L.P. (Nasdaq: TIMBZ) today announced that several
purported class action lawsuits were filed against the general partner of the
Company and the board of directors of the general partner alleging, among
other things, breach of fiduciary duty and self-dealing by the general partner
and the board in connection with the receipt by the Company of a revised
offer, dated April 23, 2002, from a group led by senior management of the
Company to take the Company private.
The lawsuits were filed in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware
for the County of New Castle. The lawsuits were filed by purported
unitholders of the Company, on behalf of all other similarly situated
unitholders, and seek to have the class certified and the purported
unitholders bringing the action named as a representative of the class. In
addition, the lawsuits seek to enjoin the going private transaction, to
rescind the going private transaction if it is consummated, and to recover
damages and attorneys' fees. The lawsuits also name the Company as a
defendant.
U.S. Timberlands Company, L.P. and its affiliate own 670,000 fee acres of
timberland and cutting rights on 3,700 acres of timberland containing total
merchantable timber volume estimated to be approximately 1.9 billion board
feet in Oregon and Washington, east of the Cascade Range. U.S. Timberlands
specializes in the growing of trees and the sale of logs and standing timber.
Logs harvested from the timberlands are sold to unaffiliated domestic
conversion facilities. These logs are processed for sale as lumber, molding
products, doors, millwork, commodity, specialty and overlaid plywood products,
laminated veneer lumber, engineered wood I-beams, particleboard, hardboard,
paper and other wood products. These products are used in residential,
commercial and industrial construction, home remodeling and repair and general
industrial applications as well as a variety of paper products. U.S.
Timberlands also owns and operates its own seed orchard and produces
approximately five million conifer seedlings annually from its nursery,
approximately half of which are used for its own internal reforestation
programs, with the balance sold to other forest products companies.
Certain information discussed in this press release may constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws.
Although U.S. Timberlands believes that expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give
no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking
information is subject to certain risks, trends, and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks,
trends and uncertainties include the highly cyclical nature of the forest
products industry, economic conditions in export markets, the possibility that
timber supply could increase if governmental, environmental or endangered
species policies change, and limitations on U.S. Timberlands' ability to
harvest its timber due to adverse natural conditions or increased governmental
restrictions. For a more complete description of factors, which could impact
U.S. Timberlands and the statements contained herein, reference should be made
to U.S. Timberlands' filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission.
SOURCE U.S. Timberlands Company, L.P.
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Related links:
http://www.ustimberlands.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/128507.html
CONTACT:
Thomas C. Ludlow, Chief Financial Officer of
U.S. Timberlands Company, L.P., +1-212-755-1100
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