International Paper buys Weyerhaeuser for $6 billion

By Bryan Gentry

Published: August 11, 2008

A corrugated cardboard factory in Lynchburg that employs 175 people changed hands last week. Its new parent company said no changes are expected in the number of employees.

International Paper bought Weyerhaeuser’s entire containerboard packaging and recycling business, including the Lynchburg factory, for $6 billion.

The deal was announced in March and closed on Aug. 4, after receiving regulatory approvals.

On Wednesday, executives from International Paper will visit the Lynchburg plant on Mayflower Drive to welcome the employees to the company.

Weyerhaeuser’s more than 70 containerboard factories complement International Paper’s 65 similar factories.

“We’re just enlarging our footprint,” said Patty Neuhoff, director of communications for International Paper.

She said the Lynchburg plant does not overlap with any of its existing factories, and the number of employees there would not change.

She said a corrugated cardboard plant has to be located within a few hours’ drive of customers served by that plant.

“You don’t ship corrugated boxes a great distance because of the weight,” she said. “You wouldn’t produce a corrugated box in Connecticut and ship it to Virginia.”

The 47-year-old factory in Lynchburg specializes in corrugated packaging for the food and beverage industry, and packaging for air express shipping, said Tom Orr, plant manager.

International Paper already had two factories in Virginia before the Aug. 4 purchase.

Its Chesapeake facility produces corrugated board similar to that made in Lynchburg, though it may have a different specialty, Neuhoff said.

The company’s Richmond facility focuses on consumer packaging instead of corrugated, she said.

Nuehoff said the 175 employees at the Lynchburg facility would continue to receive their current benefits package through the end of this year. They would be enrolled in International Paper’s benefits programs next year, she said.

International Paper closed at $29.24 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, a change of 0.28 cents.