Weyerhaeuser sells division for $6 billion

Weyerhaeuser sells division for $6 billion

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Story Published: Mar 18, 2008 at 2:27 PM PDT

Story Updated: Mar 18, 2008 at 2:27 PM PDT

By Meghan Kalkstein

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EUGENE - Another economy stunner. Weyerhaeuser made a big announcement today that will impact more than one thousand employees in Oregon. The company is selling its container board packaging and recycling business to International Paper, a company based in Memphis, Tennessee. the deal is worth six billion dollars.

Here's who it affects locally: 285 people work at the Springfield facility. 287 work at the plant in Albany, and 28 people work at the Eugene recycling business.

In a time of economic uncertainty, everyone wants to know if this sale will affect jobs. We weren't able to get an exact answer to that question, but here's what we do know: this sale is extremely significant to Weyerhauser. The division being sold makes up about one third of what the company does.

Local locations affected by the sale include the container board mill in Albany, and also the one in Springfield. It also impacts the recycling facility in Eugene. A Weyerhaeuser spokes person says they are selling this division so that they can focus in on the timber industry.

"We really want to sharpen our focus on that business and then engage in those businesses that support our timber land," says spokes person Greg Miller.

Miller says this is a very strategic move for the company to focus on the future. The new company, International Paper, is expected to take over late this summer. We asked an I.P. spokesperson on the phone if Oregon employees could see any changes to their jobs, or even loose their jobs.

The representative said it's too soon to say what impact this will have on any given facility, but they think Weyerhaeuser employees should feel good about this transaction. When we tried to talk to a number of Weyerhaeuser employees, no one would go on camera, but one person did tell me they're not worried about losing their job.

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