A deal to merge two U.S. timberland giants will bring a new corporate headquarters to Atlanta and form the state’s largest private landowner.
Two real estate investment trusts, Florida-based Rayonier and Washington state-based PotlatchDeltic, said Tuesday they’ve entered into an agreement to combine in a deal valued at $8.2 billion, including net debt.
The combined company — which will operate under a new name to be announced later — will become the second-largest publicly traded timber and wood products company in North America. (The largest is Weyerhaeuser, also a significant landowner in Georgia.)
Together, the combined company will have a timberland portfolio that spans 4.2 million acres in 11 states, including 3.2 million acres in the South. It will also operate six lumber mills and one industrial plywood mill, along with real estate projects in Arkansas, Florida and Georgia.
Its corporate headquarters will come to Atlanta, where PotlatchDeltic already has a presence, CEO and President Eric Cremers said on a conference call Tuesday morning.
PotlatchDeltic currently has its Southeast operations office at Concourse at Landmark Center in Sandy Springs, according to its website. That campus is known for the King and Queen buildings.
It’s not immediately clear whether the combined company would retain that office or choose another. A PotlatchDeltic spokesperson said the company did not have additional details about where the headquarters would go.
Atlanta was chosen for the headquarters because the combined company will become Georgia’s largest private landowner with 900,000 acres of timberland, the spokesperson said.
Cremers, on the conference call, also pointed to Rayonier’s “Heartwood at Richmond Hill” real estate project near Savannah as another holding in Georgia.
“We see significant future opportunities associated with our combined portfolio in the state,” Cremers said on the call.
The merger could be a boon for Georgia, known as a top state for forestry but recently roiled by severe weather and mill closures such as International Paper’s shuttering of its Savannah-area operations, which eliminated 1,100 jobs.
“Georgia’s timber markets continue to face challenges from recent mill closures and the lasting effects of Hurricane Helene,” Erin Lincoln, director of the University of Georgia’s Harley Langdale Jr. Center for Forest Business, said in prepared comments to the AJC.
But having a new timber giant call the state home could be a boost, she said.
“As the largest private landowner in the state, the new company should be highly motivated and well-positioned to help identify and attract new wood users and markets to Georgia,” Lincoln said.
“Their leadership in this area would benefit their own operations, all of Georgia’s private landowners and municipalities that rely on timber and mill tax revenue,” she added.
Tim Lowrimore, president and CEO of the Georgia Forestry Association, said in a statement the deal highlights Georgia’s nation-leading role in forestry.
“Our state offers unmatched access to sustainably managed forests, world-class research institutions, a robust supply chain, a high-skilled workforce and expansive infrastructure that make Georgia the best place in the world to grow and manufacture wood products,” Lowrimore said.
“The decision to locate in Atlanta underscores the confidence global companies have in Georgia and the role our forests play in driving rural economies and advancing innovation,” he said.
The deal was announced the same day new tariffs from President Donald Trump took effect on imported softwood lumber. The new 10% duty is on top of import taxes already imposed on Canadian lumber.
Higher trade barriers could benefit U.S. timberland owners and specifically PotlatchDeltic’s sawmills, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Rayonier CEO and President Mark McHugh said on Tuesday’s call that the combined company would be poised to benefit from an “eventual ramp up in U.S. lumber production in response to higher duty from Canadian lumber imports, new tariffs recently announced on wood products imports, the prospect of additional interest rate cuts and improved housing demand as we move forward.”
The deal is expected to close in late first quarter or early second quarter 2026, subject to closing conditions and regulatory and shareholder approvals.
Upon closing, McHugh will become CEO and president of the combined company and a board member. Cremers will serve as executive board chair for 24 months.
The company will maintain regional offices in Spokane, Washington, and Wildlight, Florida.
According to terms of the agreement, PotlatchDeltic shareholders will receive 1.7339 common shares of Rayonier for each share of common stock of PotlatchDeltic.
Upon closing, Rayonier shareholders will own about 54% and PotlatchDeltic shareholders will own about 46% of the combined company.
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