Adams and Reese served as a legal advisor for Joshua Timberlands LLC and Oklahoma Timber LLC in its $330 million sale of approximately 250,000 acres of timberlands to international forest products company Rayonier, who will acquire the timberlands located in Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alabama.
The acquisition, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, will initially be funded using cash, Rayonier’s revolving credit facility and the assumption of existing debt of the sellers. Closing is subject to customary timberland transaction conditions.
“This is one of the largest national timberlands transactions this year, and our team worked closely with our client for three months to help the acquisition come to fruition,” said Adams and Reese Partner Vic Lott, who was joined on the acquisition by the firm’s attorneys Candace Johnson, Ashley Harris and April Smith. “It has been gratifying to advise them through this comprehensive process.”
Adams and Reese attorneys and advisors regularly advise forestry stakeholders on national, regional and statewide levels on timber acquisitions and sales; acquisitions and sales of mills and other facilities; financing of forestry transactions; real estate development; options and leases; and title insurance services.
In 2010, Adams and Reese served as legal advisor to a timberland investment management organization (TIMO) in its acquisition of more than 91,000 acres located in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, and also a purchase deal for the same company of 14,000 acres in East Texas.
Adams and Reese represented a TIMO in its acquisition of 90,000 acres of timberland in northern Michigan, which increased the TIMO’s acreage under management to over 1 million acres in 15 states. The firm also assisted a Fortune 100 company in providing due diligence services including title review and preparation of closing documents for the sale of approximately 3 million acres in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, as a part of the sale of approximately 6 million acres in 17 states.
Adams and Reese is a multidisciplinary law firm with offices strategically located throughout the southern United States and Washington, DC. American Lawyer includes Adams and Reese on its distinguished list of the nation's top law firms - "The Am Law 200.” The National Law Journal also includes the firm on the "NLJ 250" list of the nation's largest law firms.