The contracted price is $6.1 billion, according to InternationalPaper Co. sources. The buyers have agreed to come up with about $5billion in cash and notes for the acquisition, Atlanta industrialbrokerage sources in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com. The dealis expected to close by summer.

The land parcels are in 30 Georgia counties. The contractedprice equates to $1,196 per acre or about three cents per sf. Someof the land will remain in timber production to feed InternationalPaper's pulp and paper mills in the South while other tracts willprobably become residential developments, according to Atlanta landbrokers.

While the larger land deal approaches closing, another Atlantaarea transaction with International Paper is also nearingcompletion. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources hascontracted to buy 10,393 acres for an average $433 per acre or atotal $4.5 million of timberland along the Altamaha River in Wayneand Glynn counties, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.