Weyerhaeuser hives off hardwood-lumber division

The US concern Weyerhaeuser is planning the sale of its subsidiary Northwest Hardwoods and will thereby withdraw completely from activities in the hardwood-lumber sector. The buyer of Northwest Hardwoods is the private equity company American Industrial Partners (AIP). A binding takeover agreement has already been negotiated and the conclusion of the transaction is expected in August. No official details have been issued by either company regarding the purchase price. However, referring to the Deutsche Bank analyst Mark Wilde, the US-American daily newspaper "The Seattle Times" reports a sale price of between US$100m and US$150m.