Weyerhaeuser Co., Seattle, Wash., USA, this week announced an agreement to sell its timberlands and manufacturing business in Uruguay to a consortium led by BTG Pactual's Timberland Investment Group (TIG), including other long-term institutional investors, for $402.5 million in cash. The company anticipates it will incur minimal taxes in conjunction with the transaction.

The transaction includes more than 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) of timberlands in northeastern and north central Uruguay, as well as a plywood and veneer manufacturing facility, a cogeneration facility, and a seedling nursery.

"Our Uruguay business is a unique combination of high-quality timberlands, value-added manufacturing operations and skilled and dedicated people, and this transaction will best position the business to reach its full potential," said Doyle R. Simons, president and CEO. "I am proud of the contributions our Uruguay employees have made to the success of Weyerhaeuser and the contributions they will make to the future success of these operations."

The transaction is subject to customary purchase price adjustments and closing conditions, including regulatory review, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017. Weyerhaeuser Uruguay and the buyer consortium will continue to operate separately until the transaction closes.

Weyerhaeuser, one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands, began operations in 1900. It owns or controls more than 13 million acres of timberlands, primarily in the U.S., and manages additional timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. Weyerhaeuser, which merged with Plum Creek Timber Co. in 2016, generated $6.4 billion in net sales and employed approximately 10,400 people.