G-P Selling Timber Unit To Plum

Georgia-Pacific Corp., Atlanta, Ga., has agreed to sell its Timber Co. subsidiary to Plum Creek Timber Co., Seattle, Wa., reporte$ly making the latter firm the second-largest private timberland owner in the country.

The sale, said to be valued at roughly $4 billion, including $l billion in debt, was made to help G-P fund its earlier $11 billion acquisition of tissue-paper maker Fort James Corp., Deerfield, Il.

Georgia-Pacific chairman and ceo A.D. "Pete" Correll said the Fort James acquisition will increase the 73year-old firm's market share in the consumer-products arena. "(Now) Georgia-Pacific can efficiently procure wood and fiber for our manufacturing base independently, on the open market, from which more than 8O7o of our raw material needs are already supplied," he said.

If approved, the deal will give Plum Creek a timber portfolio of more than 1.9 million acres in 19 states, an element not lost on president and ceo Rick R. Holley. "We are acquiring some of the most productive timber assets in the United States," he said.

The acquisition includes a lO-year wood supply agreement between

Georgia-Pacific and The Timber Co., that ensures continued access to fiber for G-P's manufacturing facilities and providing Plum Creek with a stable, long-term customer for The Timber Co.'s Southeastern timberlands.

Creek exchange transactions and other business information in their own desired format, even if they use different software systems.

"We have demonstrated that manufacturers don't have to own timberlands to be competitive," Correll said. G-P now buys roughly 8O7o of its raw materials on the open market.

New Pro-Wood Consortium

A consortium of wood products industry organizations have formed the Wood Promotion Network, a coalition to promote the use of North American wood products.

"Wood has a great story to tell and we're gearing up to tell it," said Kelly McCloskey, president and ceo of the Chicago-based group.

Bozell Advertising and BSMG Worldwide are handling the group's advertising and public relations.

DMSI Adds E-Commerce Aid

Distribution Management Systems, Inc. plans to integrate Channelinx's WebDI e-commerce product with its software systems.

Using WebDI, trading partners can

"By allowing business information to flow directly between back-office systems, WebDI is more efficient than the way business is conducted today, which is largely by phone and fax," says Channelinx president and ceo Jim Sobeck. "WebDI will allow DMSi users to exchange information with practically anyone who has Internet access without ever leavins their DMSi software."

- W. Henson Moore, American Forest & Paper Association president and ceo, on near-unanimous Senate approval of a forest health funding bill

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