North American forest products company Rayonier is to purchase 56,300 acres of timberland in south-west Washington for US$215m.
Rayonier, which owns, leases and manages 2.6 million acres of timberland in the US and New Zealand, will purchase the area from fellow forest products company Sierra Pacific Industries. The deal is expected to clear in the second quarter.
The sale includes Douglas fir and western hemlock timber, as well as “highly productive land for long-term management” according to Rayonier.
It said the purchase was part of a strategic plan to upgrade its portfolio and would be integrated with existing land it owns in the area.
“The acquisition reflects our strategy to grow and upgrade our portfolio with timberlands that meet our strategic investment criteria,” said chairman, president and chief executive officer Lee Thomas.
“We have a great deal of forestry expertise in the region, which will allow us to successfully integrate this timberland into our portfolio.”
Rayonier added that it intends to have the acquired timberlands certified to Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards in line with the rest of its portfolio.
