Merger to Create No. 2 Timberland Owner

SEATTLE-Locally based Plum Creek Timber Company Inc. and Georgia-Pacific Corp. have amended their merger agreement and are proceeding the previously announced melding of Plum Creek and The Timber Co. of Atlanta.

Plum Creek, a real estate investment trust, is one of the largest landowners in the nation, with timberlands in the Northwest, Southern, and Northeast regions of the United States and nine wood product mills in the Northwest. Atlanta-based The Timber Company is a separate operating group of Georgia-Pacific and manages 4.7 million acres of timberland in the United States and sells timber and wood fiber to industrial wood users.

Following the merger, Plum Creek will be the second largest private timberland owner in the United States, with more than 7.8 million acres of timberlands located in 19 states.

The decision to move forward was made by the boards of directors of Plum Creek and Georgia-Pacific following confirmation that they will receive opinions from tax counsel that the spin-off of The Timber Company from Georgia-Pacific and the subsequent merger with Plum Creek will be tax-free to both companies and their shareholders.