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Willamette hangs tough
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August 16, 2001: 1:24 p.m. ET
Weyerhaeuser refuses to withdraw $5.5B hostile bid, extends it to Sept. 14
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Weyerhaeuser Co. refuses to give up its $5.5 billion hostile takeover bid for Willamette Industries Inc. and extended its offer once again Thursday.
The current extension expires at midnight, Sept. 14, Weyerhaeuser said. The timber company has kept extending its bid since it first made the offer late last year.
Willamette shareholders had tendered and not withdrawn about 46.5 million shares pursuant to Weyerhaeuser's offer as of midnight Aug. 15.
Weyerhaeuser first bid $48 a share, or $5.24 billion, for Willamette last November and even raised the offer in May to $50 a share, or $5.5 billion. Weyerhaeuser also indicated it would be open to raising its already sweetened offer.
However, Portland, Ore.-based Willamette (WLL: up $0.16 to $48.91, Research, Estimates), a producer of timber and paper products, rejected each bid.
On June 7, Federal Way, Wash.-based Weyerhaeuser (WY: up $0.37 to $58.79, Research, Estimates) successfully secured three seats on Willamette's board and needs three more to achieve a majority, a Weyerhaeuser spokesman said Thursday.
Buying Willamette would make Weyerhaeuser the world's third-largest paper and forestry products producer behind International Paper and Georgia-Pacific, with annual revenue of more than $16 billion
Willamette's next board meeting will occur sometime from April through June next year. Weyerhaeuser likely will prolong its latest offer until then, a person familiar with the situation said.
Weyerhaeuser's has extended its offer "too many times to count," a Willamette spokeswoman said, calling the latest extension "meaningless."
Selling the company is not part of Willamette's long-term strategy, the spokeswoman said.
"The onus is still on Weyerhaeuser to make a real offer or walk away," she said. "Our people are now at work demonstrating we can demonstrate greater value on our own." 
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