Jacksonville, FL-based Rayonier Inc. is a leading pure-play timberland real estate investment trust (REIT). As of Dec 31, 2023, the company owned or leased under long-term agreements nearly 2.7 million acres of timberland across the United States and New Zealand. Its portfolio included 1.85 million acres in the U.S. South, 418,000 acres in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and 421,000 gross acres in New Zealand.

Rayonier’s core business segments comprise Southern Timber, Pacific Northwest Timber, New Zealand Timber, Real Estate and Trading. Southern Timber, Pacific Northwest Timber and New Zealand Timber segments comprise all activities associated with harvesting of timber, as well as other non-timber income activities.

The Real Estate segment comprises all U.S. and New Zealand land or leasehold sales. In 2021, the company gave up its ownership interests and sold its rights to manage Fund III and Fund IV. In the same year, it also completed the liquidation of Fund II timberland assets.

Further, the Trading segment mainly includes log trading activities that support the company’s New Zealand operations. This segment is engaged in offering additional market intelligence, thereby growing the scale of export operations and realizing cost savings, which benefit the New Zealand Timber segment. Also, it offers market intelligence that benefits Southern and Pacific Northwest export log marketing.

In December 2023, Rayonier disposed of 55,000 acres of timberland in Oregon to Manulife Investment Management on behalf of clients for $242 million or roughly $4,400 per acre. It utilized $150 million of the proceeds to repay its floating rate debt while $30 million was used to distribute a special dividend of 20 cents per common share to shareholders. The remaining proceeds will be used for debt reduction and/or other capital allocation purposes in the future. The move is part of Rayonier’s capital structure realignment plan, through which it aims to dispose of select assets totaling $1 billion over the next 18 months. This will enhance shareholder value by capturing significant disparity between public and private market timberland values. The REIT also aims to improve credit ratios, thereby increasing capital allocation flexibility and CAD per share.