Tuesday, December 19, 2023 1:00 pm
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WILDLIGHT, Fla. (News release) -- Rayonier Inc. announced the completion of its previously announced disposition of 55,000 acres of timberland in Oregon to Manulife Investment Management on behalf of clients for $242 million (~$4,400 per acre), subject to customary prorations and closing costs. The Company has used $150 million of the proceeds to pay down its only floating rate debt and plans to use approximately $30 million for a special dividend to be paid in January 2024 (as announced in a separate press release today). The remaining proceeds are being retained for further debt reduction and/or other capital allocation purposes.
"Successfully closing on this asset sale is an important step toward effectuating the asset disposition and capital structure realignment plan that we announced on November 1st, targeting $1 billion of select asset sales over 18 months," said David Nunes, Chief Executive Officer. "We are actively working to bring additional timberland assets to market as we execute on our plan to capture the disparity between public and private timberland values, position our balance sheet for a higher interest rate environment, and return meaningful capital to shareholders."
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