Monday, August 06, 2007
Temple-Inland (NYSE:TIN) shares moved up $0.86, or 1.6%, to $54.76 today after the company announced that it would sell its timberland holdings for $2.4 billion and distribute the money to shareholders via a special dividend. The move comes amid an Icahn-led restructuring of the company that many shareholders are hoping can help it unlock value.

The 1.6 million acres of timberland will be sold to Campbell as part of the company's restructuring move that will also include spin-off of its financial services and real estate operations. The moves should help the highly diversified company with branches in financial services, real estate, corrugated packaging and forest products consolidate its operations and focus on its core competencies.

Famous activist, Carl Icahn, holds a 6.7% stake and has been pushing for a sale of the company since the beginning of this year. Shares in the company are up over 18% since he first indicated he was involved and continued to rise before their recent drop. Since then, some other activist investors have taken stakes in the company as many are banking on a restructuring to unlock value for all involved.

The special dividend from this timberland sale will amount to $10.25 per share while the remaining $700 million from the sale will be used to pay down debt. The move will help Icahn and other large shareholders cash out a portion of their stake while they wait on the company to complete their spin-offs of the other organizations. Combined, these factors make TIN a stock worth watching!

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8/6/2007 5:27:07 PM UTC  #    Comments [0]  |  Trackback
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