Weyerhaeuser Extends Offer for Willamette Industries Shares

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) -- Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE:WY - news), still trying to win a hostile takeover of timber rival Willamette Industries, on Thursday extended by a month its offer to buy Willamette shares. The $50-per-share takeover offer was to expire Wednesday but will now run until Sept. 14, Weyerhaeuser said. It was the fifth extension Federal Way-based Weyerhaeuser has filed as it tries to gain a majority of the shares needed to win the takeover battle for Portland, Ore.-based Willamette. As of Aug. 15, Weyerhaeuser said shareholders had tendered approximately 43 percent of the shares outstanding, or about 46.5 million of the approximately 109 million Willamette shares available. Also Thursday, the company said it will curtail production at three of its Canadian mills, putting about 1,000 people out of work for at least two weeks. On Monday, Weyerhaeuser will close the Canadian White Pine mill in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Somass mill in Port Alberni, on British Columbia's Vancouver Island. The New Westminster mill, near Vancouver, will shut down Aug. 27. Weyerhaeuser spokesman Paul Barnum said the plants would be closed for at least two weeks. He blamed the shutdown, during which workers will not be paid, on economic uncertainty and a change in import tax laws. On Friday, U.S. officials gave preliminary approval to a plan to charge a 19.3 percent duty on all timber imported from Canada to the United States. Previously, under the Softwood Lumber Agreement, no duty was charged on timber imported from Canada. Weyerhaeuser, which opposes the duty, has argued it will hurt business and increase cedar prices. Earlier this month, Willamette said it planned to buy back up to 10 million shares, or almost 10 percent of the company's stock, to fight Weyerhaeuser's takeover bid. That move came after Willamette shareholders narrowly elected three Weyerhaeuser-backed nominees to the Willamette's board of directors on June 7. The election of board members friendly to the takeover was intended to strengthen Weyerhaeuser's $7.1 billion bid for Weyerhaeuser, which includes the $50-per-share offer and the assumption of Willamette's debt. Shares of Weyerhaeuser rose 47 cents to close at $58.89 in trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, where shares of Willamette rose 22 cents to close at $48.97.