Plum Creek no more: Weyerhaeuser merger finalized

The purple was replaced with green last week as the $8 billion-plus merger between Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek was finalized.

Temporary Weyerhaeuser signs have been placed over the Plum Creek signs at its offices and mill entrances. Local mills will continue to run under the merger the company announced recently, but some jobs outside of manufacturing at the company’s “Cedar Palace” office, which include secretarial, accounting, information technology and other administrative jobs remain in doubt. About 100 people work in the cedar palace. Manufacturing accounts for 650 jobs.

Weyerhaeuser spokesman Anthony Chavez said the company couldn’t comment or give a timeline as to how many jobs may be lost in the merger, but he did note there would be some “duplication” of roles.

The company has said in the past it could take upwards to two years to sort out some positions, some of which could move to Seattle.

Weyerhaeuser has already said it will maintain Plum Creek’s “open lands” policy in Montana. The company absorbs about 770,000 acres in Montana from the merger. Weyerhaeuser leases or charges a permit fee to use many of its lands across the U.S., so Montana will be the exception, rather than the rule. About 170,000 acres in the Thompson and Fisher rivers is already protected under a conservation easement brokered by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks several years ago.

Weyerhauser also announced its new board of directors, which include former Plum Creek CEO Rick R. Holley as a non-executive chairman, former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, David P. Bozeman, Mark A. Emmert, Sara Grootwassink Lewis, John I. Kieckhefer, John F. Morgan Sr., Nicole W. Piasecki, Lawrence A. Selzer, Doyle R. Simons, D. Michael Steuert, Kim Williams, and Charles R. Williamson.

Simons is the president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser.

“This is an exciting day for Weyerhaeuser as we bring together the best assets and talent in the industry,” Simons said when the merger was finalized. “In the coming months, we will be relentlessly focused on creating value for our shareholders by capturing cost synergies, leveraging our scale, sharing best practices, delivering the most value from every acre and driving operational excellence. I look forward to being part of this outstanding team as we work together to be the world’s premier timber, land and forest products company.”

The combined company now owns more than 13 million acres of timberlands and operates 38 wood products manufacturing facilities across the country.

John Raschleigh,who was the product line manager for plywood in Columbia Falls, will oversee the manufacturing plants here under Weyerhaeuser. He replaces Tom Ray who has been with the company since 2001 and became vice president of Northwest Manufacturing and Resources in 2009. Ray was not offered a job locally in the merger.

The merger finalization was a bump to Weyerhaeuser’s stock. Weyerhaeuser’s stock was trading at $22.87 on Feb. 1 and was $23.41 Monday, up 2 percent. But overall, the stock is way down from a year ago, when the Weyerhaeuser’s stock was almost $35 a share.