Rayonier and PotlatchDeltic Merge to Form 2nd-Largest Timber Company in North America

The merger is expected to close in late to mid-2026, the companies said.

Piles of wooden boards in a sawmill in a file photo. Shutterstock

Two of the leading timberland owners based in the southern United States announced plans to merge on Oct. 14, creating an $8.2 billion forestry giant that will move its headquarters to Atlanta.

Rayonier, Inc. and PotlatchDeltic Corp. said on Oct. 14 that their all-stock merger will create a land resources real estate investment trust with a market value of $7.1 billion, including an additional $1.1 billion in net debt.

With a combined timber portfolio of roughly 4.2 million acres, the newly formed company would be North America’s second-largest publicly traded lumber owner and wood products producer behind Weyerhaeuser, which owns and controls about 10.4 million acres of timberlands in the United States and millions more in Canada.

The merger comes amid heightened uncertainty across the wood products industry due to whipsawing lumber prices and tariffs of 10 percent on imported softwoods and 25 percent on imported furniture and cabinetry that are set to go into effect on Oct. 14. Tariffs on imported upholstered wood products are slated to rise to 30 percent on Jan. 1, 2026, while duties on imported cabinets and vanities jump to 50 percent.

Lumber prices inched upward to $621 per 1,000 board feet on Oct. 14, a nearly 18 percent increase from year-ago costs. Prices hit an all-time high of $1,686 in May 2021, but have since retreated due in part to reduced domestic production.

President Donald Trump’s efforts to levy tariffs on imported softwoods and furniture are geared to spur industrial resilience in the timber industry while curbing its reliance on foreign imports, the president announced in his Sept. 29 proclamation, which follows an executive order on March 1 calling for the immediate expansion of domestic timber production.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, which was unanimously approved by both companies’ board of directors, PotlatchDeltic shareholders will receive 1.7339 shares of Rayonier stock for each share of PotlatchDeltic stock, an implied price of $44.11 per share as of Oct. 10. Rayonier will own 54 percent and PotlatchDeltic 46 percent of the new real estate investment trust (REIT).

The companies said they will announce a new name prior to the merger closing.

Much of the company’s 4.2 million acres of timber holdings are in the south. PotlatchDeltic has 2.1 million acres of timberland in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, as well as holdings in Idaho. Rayonier, meanwhile, owns or leases an additional 2 million acres of softwood timberland in the south, along with another 307,000 acres in the Pacific Northwest.

By merging, the newly formed REIT can realize about $40 million in combined synergies, largely through more efficient wood products production capabilities, rising housing demand in the south, and greater flexibility with the REIT corporate structure, the companies said. Existing home sales in August in the south were up by 3.4 percent from the same period in 2024, the National Association of Realtors reported.

“We are excited to announce this strategic merger of equals, combining two exceptional land resources companies to deliver enhanced value for our shareholders and other stakeholders,” said Mark McHugh, president and CEO of Rayonier.

McHugh will serve as president and CEO of the new entity, with Eric Cremers, PotlatchDeltic’s president and CEO, serving as its executive chair of the board of directors for a two-year period.

The merger is expected to close in late to mid-2026, the companies said.