Weyerhaeuser is selling 555,000 acres of its Michigan timberlands to Lyme Great Lake Holdings, an affiliate of The Lyme Timber Company LP, for $300 million. Weyerhaeuser said it does not expect to recognize a gain on the sale. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
“This transaction in our Northern region encompasses a diverse mix of hardwood and softwood acres and is part of our ongoing effort to strategically optimize our timberlands portfolio,” Devin Stockfish, president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser, said in a prepared statement. “Lyme will also welcome our exceptional team of highly skilled employees.”
Weyerhaeuser owns or controls approximately 12 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. The company also manufactures wood products and generate $7.5 billion in net sales in 2018.
The Lyme Timber Company LP, a private timberland investment organization, has major forestland holdings in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Florida, and California. The company’s core timberlands are third-party certified through either the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or the Forest Stewardship Council.
“Weyerhaeuser’s Michigan timberlands have been managed for decades by an expert team of professionals, and we look forward to working with them,” said Jim Hourdequin, managing director and CEO of The Lyme Timber Company LP. “We’re excited to be investing in a region known for the quality of its hardwood timberland, mill capacity, and logging and trucking infrastructure.”
