Weyerhaeuser Names CEO

Weyerhaeuser Board Names Doyle Simon CEO:
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY), one of the world's largest lumber companies, said Sunday that its board has named Doyle Simon as its new CEO, effective Aug. 1.

The company, based in Federal Way, Wash., also said that it signed a deal to buy Longview Timber LLC. for $2.65 billion from Brookfield Asset Management (BAM). And in a separate release, Weyerhaeuser said it was exploring strategic alternatives for its real estate company that could include a merger, a sale or spin-off of the business.
Simon, 49. who has been a director of Weyerhaeuser since February 2012 and was most recently CEO and chairman of International Paper (IP) subsidiary Temple-Inland, will succeed Dan Fulton, who turns 65 this year and will retire as planned. Fulton, who had been at the helm since 2008, will serve as executive vice chairman of the Weyerhaeuser board of directors until his retirement in October.

Weyerhaeuser Buys Longview Timber for $2.64 Billion

http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/

Weyerhaeuser Company (WY) today announced it has a signed definitive stock purchase agreement to acquire Longview Timber LLC from affiliates of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. for $2.65 billion, which includes the assumption of debt. The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and is expected to close in July 2013.

The company is acquiring approximately 645,000 acres of unique, high-quality timberlands in Washington and Oregon that are highly complementary and contiguous with the company's existing acreage. This transaction will expand Weyerhaeuser's timber holdings in the Pacific Northwest by 33 percent to approximately 2.6 million acres and increase the total amount of U.S. timberlands it owns or controls to approximately 6.6 million acres. The company expects to reach annual synergies of approximately $20 million within two years of closing.

Norske Skog Sells Newsprint Mill, Brazil

http://www.norskeskog.com/Default.asp

Norske Skog has agreed to sell 51% of the shares in Norske Skog Pisa in Brazil to Papeles Bio Bio S.A., (former Norske Skog Bio Bio) which is controlled by Group BO/Pathfinder, a consortium of Chilean investors. The agreed purchase price for the 51 % stake is USD 41.3 million.

The Pisa mill has a total newsprint production of approximately 170 000 tons, and is one of total four newsprint mills in South-America. Papeles Bio Bio has agreed upon the terms of purchasing Norske Skog's remaining shares in the Brazilian operations within an expected time horizon of one to two years.

Magazine Industry Eyes Retail Partnerships

http://supermarketnews.com/nonfood/magazine-industry-eyes-retail-partnerships

The magazine industry aims to jumpstart sales at supermarkets by advocating for data-driven partnerships and focusing on innovative product launches, according to top publishing executives at a retail conference here.

These strategies are intended to lift a category impacted by the tough economy, new consumer behaviors, and changing dynamics at the retail front end.
"We need to coordinate our databases with databases of the retailer to promote directly to consumers to come into particular stores to buy magazines," said Efrem "Skip" Zimbalist 3d, chairman and chief executive officer, Active Interest Media.
He was part of a top executive panel at the 2013 MPA/PBAA Retail Marketplace Conference here.

Hearst Magazines’ One Million New Customers

http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/06/the-newsonomics-of-hearst-magazines-one-million-new-customers/

Most publishers are concentrating on milking more revenue out of existing customers. Hearst is focused on building a new native-to-digital audience. Take this quiz. The era of paying for digital access (a.k.a. digital circulation or paywalls) is about:

Getting more money out of core subscribers;
Getting new money out of new subscribers; or
Getting money any way you can.
Okay, 3 is a gimme. But 1 and 2 are very different strategies. While most newspaper publishers are leaning heavily on their long-time core bases by promising and delivering all-access, Hearst Magazines is taking a contrarian turn in the market. It’s a strategy that is largely at odds with peers Condé Nast, Time Inc., and Meredith, as well as most newspaper publishers. It’s betting almost wholly on new customers.

Getting Magazines to Market

http://www.pubexec.com/article/mpa-pbaa-retail-marketplace-2013-getting-magazines-market/1

The 2013 MPA/PBAA Retail Marketplace opened Monday and wraps up today in Philadelphia. Publishing Executive had the chance to sit in on some interesting presentations. (After all, they came to Philly — it’s the least we can do!)  
Mary Berner, President and CEO of The Association of Magazine Media (MPA) started the conference off with her usual energetic call to action and to “innovate, innovate, innovate.” Next up, PE’s own Dr. Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni led a panel discussion of magazine CEOs including David Carey of Hearst, Steve Lacy of Meredith, Bob Sauerberg of Condé Nast, and Efrem (Skip) Zimbalist of Active Interest Media.

Publisher Launches Three New Titles

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/202526/bauer-to-launch-3-new-titles-in-fall.html#axzz2WUQb4EQc

Amid declining ad pages and stagnant or declining circulation, you don’t hear much nowadays about big new consumer magazine launches -- but Bauer Publishing, the German company behind In Touch Weekly, is apparently unfazed, as it unveiled plans to launch not one but three new magazines.

The biggest new addition to the Bauer portfolio is Closer, a celebrity weekly targeting women in their mid-30s and 40s, which will launch in November.
Bauer is also planning to launch Girl’s World,targeting girls ages six to 10, debuting in October with a publication schedule of seven times per year.
Finally, the company plans to launch Celebrations, a Woman’s World spinoff, which will appear six times a year around holidays.

Amazon Adds Jobs, and Sales Tax, in FL

http://spacecoastdaily.com/2013/06/amazon-announces-proposal-to-create-3000-jobs-in-florida/

 Governor Scott reversed his initial decision to block Amazon’s expansion because Floridians would have to pay sales tax on Amazon purchases. According to the announcement yesterday, Amazon will “begin collecting Florida sales tax at such time as it is required under current Florida law.”
Any business that has a location in Florida collects sales tax through an online purchase. Once Amazon opens Florida facilities, Amazon will collect the standard 6% sales tax from Florida shoppers. With the groundwork for a return on taxpayer investment in place, Governor Scott explained how Amazon will work with Florida’s economic development team.

MPA Opposes Exigent Postal Rate Increase Option

http://www.pubexec.com/article/mpa-statement-opposing-possible-exigent-postal-rate-increase/1

The Association of Magazine Media, on behalf of its member publishers, strongly urges the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service not to seek an unlawful “exigent” postal rate increase.  The increase – possibly as high as 10 percent – would be a lose-lose proposition for both magazine publishers and the Postal Service.

MPA has long advocated for postal reform legislation that would restore the nation’s postal system to solvency, leading to stable, predictable and lawful rate increases going forward.  Attempting to address some of the Service’s inherent problems – notably an oversized and underutilized infrastructure – by imposing a rate increase on a product Postmaster Generals have called “the anchor of the mailbox” is both unwise and unlawful. In addition, MPA urges the Board of Governors to be mindful of the Postal Regulatory Commission’s position that attempting to resolve issues unrelated to exigent circumstances, such as the cost coverage of Periodicals mail, through an exigent filing conflicts with the law.

House Takes Up Postal Reform

House Takes up the Postal Service Debate Again:
Representative Darrell Issa of California and Senator Tom Carper of Delaware are overseeing efforts in the Senate and the House to come up with bipartisan postal legislation, an effort that failed in the 112th Congress.
Issa made a compromise last week in a draft version of a Postal Service overhaul bill, the Postal Reform Act of 2013.
The draft from the House Oversight Committee would greatly reduce a financially crippling annual requirement to prefund health costs for future retirees.

National Envelope Secures Financing

National Envelope Secures Financing, Sees Strong Support:  National Envelope, the nation’s largest, privately-held envelope manufacturer, secured over $65 million in DIP (Debtor In Possession) financing and saw a strong outpouring of support from business partners after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday and obtaining court approval of first day motions on Tuesday.