Temple-Inland finds buyer for timberland
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Temple-Inland Inc. announced Monday, Aug. 6, that it has entered into an agreement with The Campbell Group to sell 1.55 million acres of timberland for $2.38 billion. Newsboy photo/Charles Kerr

Temple-Inland Inc. announced Monday, Aug. 6, that it has entered into a definitive agreement with The Campbell Group to sell 1.55 million acres of timberland for $2.38 billion.

Temple-Inland caught everyone off-guard when they announced Feb. 26 plans to separate into three stand-alone companies and divest itself of its timberlands.

The company had just held a ceremony for the lifting of the billionth supertree seedling at the Clyde Thompson nursery in Jasper. Jim Brody, vice president of the forest products division, told the gathered crowd, "Others followed a 'cut out and get out' strategy, but with Temple the difference has been that sustainability if the foundation of our corporation."

Temple-Inland was then the single largest timberlands owner in the country, with 1.2 million acres in Texas, 260,000 acres in Jasper County.

The Campbell Group, founded in 1981, is a timberland investment management firm based in Portland, Oregon.

John Gilleland, president of The Campbell Group, said, "The Temple-Inland forests represent some of the best managed, highest quality industrial timberlands in the world."

Part of the agreement includes a 20-year fiber supply agreement for pulpwood and a 12-year fiber supply agreement for sawtimber, according to Temple-Inland's press release. It also states, "The agree- ments further require that the timberlands will continue to be managed and third-party certified under the requirements of the Sustainable Forestry Initiation (R) Standard."

Kenneth Jastrow II, Chief executive officer of Temple- Inland, said, "We are pleased that many of our current forest employees will have the opportunity to continue managing these lands under new ownership."

These statements suggest that Jasper may not notice much difference when ownership of more than 40 percent of the county changes hands.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to Temple- Inland. "The company expects to use the majority of these proceeds to pay a special dividend, which is currently estimated to be approximately $1.1 billion, or $10.25 per share, to its common stockholders. The remaining approximately $700 million of the cash proceeds will be used to reduce debt," according to a company press release.

When the deal closes, The Campbell Group will need to make major revisions to its website, which says, "The Campbell Group manages $1.6 billion in timberland assets," The $2.38 billion for this deal will more than double their assets.

Duncan Campbell, the founder and chairman, says, "We helped create the timber investment business... we're creative and resourceful, unlike a lot of larger businesses that have become bureaucratic."

Campbell will become one of the larger, if not largest, timberlands investment companies, and the current 125 employees in nine offices is likely to grow in a bureaucratic spurt.

Campbell also works with disadvantaged children and is a founder of Friends of the Children, a national mentoring program. The Campbell Group is rated as one of the top 100 best employers in Oregon.