After months of speculation over potential acquisitions, Willamette Industries announced January 28 that it has reached a definitive merger agreement to sell the company to Weyerhaeuser for $55.50 per share. Weyerhaeuser, which did about $14.5 billion in sales last year, completed the acquisition on March 14, creating a $19 billion forest products company.
As of now, it is unclear which, if any, portions of Willamette's manufacturing and distribution will be affected, which operations will be combined, and how product offerings will change. A transition team made up of members from both companies is meeting to decide how best to combine the products and services that each company offers.
"We have experienced people from both sides of the business looking at both businesses and looking at how they can best be combined," says Heather Crunchie, advertising and marketing manager for Willamette. "We're very excited and optimistic about the combined strengths of the company."
On its Web site, Weyerhaeuser recommends that in the meantime suppliers of Willamette should continue to work with existing Willamette contacts. More details on product availability should be available by summer.
For more information, visit www.weyerhaeuser.com and www.wii.com.
