Rayonier Reduces Investment in New Zealand Timber Consortium

Jacksonville, Florida, USA, 27 April 2006 -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) said today that it has entered into an agreement that will reduce its investment in a New Zealand timber consortium from 49.7% to 40%, consistent with its announced intent when the consortium was formed in October 2005. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter and result in net cash proceeds to Rayonier of approximately USD 23 million (at a New Zealand/U.S. dollar exchange rate of .63) and an after-tax gain of USD 6 million, or 8 cents per share, including USD 5 million of previously deferred gain. Rayonier will continue to manage the consortium's 354,000 acre estate.

The consortium, which has been led by RREEF Infrastructure, the global infrastructure investing arm of Deutsche Asset Management, has agreed to sell a 35% interest, including 9.7% from Rayonier, to funds managed by AMP Capital Investors Limited, a subsidiary of AMP Limited, an Australian corporation. The sale is subject to approval by the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

In October 2005, the consortium purchased Rayonier's 119,000 acres and 235,000 acres of other forests in New Zealand.

Rayonier is an international forest products company with three core businesses - Timber, Real Estate and Performance Fibers. It owns, leases or manages 2.5 million acres of timberland in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. The company's real estate subsidiary, TerraPointe, is focused on maximizing the value of its extensive higher-and-better use properties, particularly in the fast-growing coastal corridor between Savannah, Georgia, and Daytona Beach, Florida, where the company owns approximately 200,000 acres. Rayonier is also the world's leading producer of high performance cellulose specialty products. Approximately 40% of the company's sales are outside the United States to customers in more than 50 countries.