Replies to post #126259 on Billionaire Boys Club Member Forum (BBCMF)

[mick]

International Paper to Sell Forestlands for $6.1 Bln

April 4 International Paper Co., North America's biggest paper maker,
agreed to sell 5.1 million acres of forestlands in the U.S. to two
investor groups for about $6.1 billion.

A group led by Resource Management Service LLC will buy 3.8 million
acres in southern states and 440,000 acres in Michigan for $5 billion
in cash and notes, Stamford, Connecticut-based International Paper
said today in a statement. A group led by TimberStar will buy 900,000
acres in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas for $1.1 billion in cash and
notes.

International Paper said the transaction may be the largest private
forestland sale in U.S. history. The company is focusing on its paper
and box business after unveiling plans in July to shed as much as $10
billion of assets, including timberlands. The company in February
reported a loss of $77 million for the fourth quarter, compared with
net income of $169 million a year earlier, on restructuring expenses
and increased energy costs.

``These agreements for the sale of forestlands at very attractive
valuations are important steps forward in our plan to increase our
focus and improve returns to shareowners,'' International Paper Chief
Executive Officer John Faraci said in the statement.

Shares

Shares of International Paper rose 15 cents to $34.72 yesterday in
New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Before today, the stock
had fallen 4.5 percent in the past year.

Pension funds including Harvard University, the Massachusetts state
pension fund and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation boosted their stakes
in timberland last year as they sought an asset whose returns weren't
affected by the vagaries of stock and bond markets.

Universities, insurers, wealthy individuals and public pension funds
had about $12 billion invested in timberland at the end of 2003,
according to Clark Binkley, chief investment officer of Boston-based
Hancock Timber Resource Group, a unit of John Hancock Financial
Services Inc. Assets have grown by 20 percent a year since the mid-
1980s, he said.