TIMBER

Hanson U.S. Timber Assets Sold for $1.58 Billion: Willamette Industries Inc. will acquire the Louisiana and Pacific Northwest timber operations of Cavenham Forest Industries, an affiliate of the British conglomerate, for $1.588 billion. Portland, Ore.-based Willamette said it plans to sell some of the 1.02 million acres of timberland. But it will retain and operate Cavenham’s sawmill in Warrenton, Ore., and its timberland in northwest Oregon, southwest Washington and north-central Louisiana, worth about $1 billion. The agreement completes the sale of Cavenham after Weyerhaeuser Co.’s agreement last month to buy $500 million worth of its timberland and sawmills from Hanson.