Weyerhaeuser extends stock tender period

Willamette Industries employees are now officially Weyerhaeuser Company employees.

Weyerhaeuser announced on Monday that Willamette Industries stockholders tendered 97 percent of the outstanding shares of Willamette common stock to Weyerhaeuser as of midnight Eastern Time on Feb. 8.

Weyerhaeuser stock was down 1.15 at $61.17 a share at press time, 1:41 p.m. Eastern Time, yesterday. Willamette stock was unchanged at $55.48 a share as of press time yesterday.

Weyerhaeuser CEO Steve Rogel spent Monday and yesterday morning in Portland, where he met with former Willamette employees.

Bruce Amundson, Weyerhaeuser’s director of financial and external communications, said people were generally supportive, if a little sad and concerned about their futures.

“There’s a little bit of grieving,” Amundson said.

Weyerhaeuser expects to keep 99 percent of those employees who were working for Willamette, Amundson said, though they might have to do some juggling to figure out where people will end up.

Weyerhaeuser extended the period in which it will buy outstanding Willamette shares until today. Those who didn’t tender their shares will have to be tracked down after today so Weyerhaeuser can give them the $55.50 a share it offered in its hostile bid and that Willamette shareholders approved late last month.

Amundson did not give a date for when individual shareholders could expect to see cash for their shares of Willamette stock, but he said it would be soon.

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