Madison Dearborn Partners Acquires $3.7 billion in Assets from Boise Cascade Corporation
Boise Cascade Corporation (NYSE: BCC) announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its paper, forest products, and timberland assets for approximately $3.7 billion to affiliates of Boise Cascade, L.L.C., a new company formed by Madison Dearborn Partners L.L.C. (MDP), a leading private equity investment firm located in Chicago, Illinois.
Upon completion of the deal, Boise Cascade Corporation will change its name to OfficeMax, Inc., taking on the name of the company it acquired last year for $1.2 billion in cash and stock. Once the sale is finalized, it will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OMX and its headquarters will be located in Itasca, Illinois. The transaction is expected to close by mid-November 2004.
The new executive chairman of the board for OfficeMax, Inc. will be George J. Harad, who is the current chairman and chief executive officer of Boise Cascade Corporation. The new president and chief executive officer of OfficeMax, Inc. will be Chris Milliken. Mr. Milliken is division president and chief executive officer of Boise Office Solutions.
Madison Dearborn Partners was represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago. The deal team was led by William S. Kirsch. Other attorneys included Keith S. Crow, Richard J. Campbell, Andrew M. Kaufman, Jeffrey W. Richards, William R. Welke and Christopher T. Shannon.
About Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,000-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex corporate and tax, litigation, intellectual property and workout, insolvency and bankruptcy matters. The Firm has offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington.
About Madison Dearborn Partners
Madison Dearborn Partners is one of the largest and most experienced private equity firms in the United States. MDP has approximately $8 billion of equity capital under management and makes new investments through its most recent fund, Madison Dearborn Capital Partners IV, L.P., a $4 billion investment fund raised in 2001.