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--> --> Weyerhaeuser warns Willamette shareholders PORTLAND (AP) - Weyerhaeuser has a warning for Willamette Industries shareholders: Elect our candidates for your board next month, or the $50 stock offer vanishes. That was pretty much the message from Weyerhaeuser Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steven R. Rogel, delivered in a letter to Willamette shareholders Wednesday. Rogel has nominated three candidates to Willamette's nine-member board, in an election to be held at Willamette's annual meeting June 7 in Portland. "These nominees are committed to maximizing value for shareholders now," Rogel's letter said. "If the Weyerhaeuser nominees are not elected, we will be forced to withdraw our offer." Weyerhaeuser, the Federal Way, Wash.-based forest products giant, has offered $50 a share and assumption of $1.7 billion in debt for Portland-based Willamette. Willamette has resisted the takeover bid, so Weyerhaeuser has nominated candidates to Willamette's board who would vote to allow a sale to go through. It would take two annual elections for Weyerhaeuser to take control of the board, because only three members are elected each year. Weyerhaeuser's message didn't seem to change anything for Willamette on Wednesday. "It certainly shows some wavering in their commitment," Willamette spokeswoman Cathy Dunn said. The two companies have waged a paper war in letters to shareholders. Weyerhaeuser argues that its offer compares favorably with other hostile takeovers in the forest products industry since 1990. Willamette, on the other hand, argues that the offer underrepresents its true value as one of the industry's premier companies. Many of the top analysts in forest products have said the Weyerhaeuser offer would be good for the industry and represents a good starting price for negotiations to sell Willamette. Many institutional investors have sold their shares, leaving about 25 percent to 30 percent in the hands of arbitrage firms that are looking for a short-term jump in the stock price, Chercover said. Those firms are committing their shares to Weyerhaeuser and would almost certainly vote for the Weyerhaeuser slate of board candidates. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing