Estate Planning News

During Third Quarter 2003, We Recorded A Net $2.9 Million Gain, Which Included A One-Time Corporate Tax Benefit Related To A Favorable Tax Ruling

On October 29, 2004, we completed the sale of our 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 LLC.  Some assets, such as a wood-polymer building materials facility that is in a start-up phase, and company-owned life insurance, are being retained by OfficeMax, as are some liabilities associated with retiree pension and benefits, litigation,
 environmental remediation at selected sites and facilities previously closed.  The sold assets are included in our Boise Building Solutions and Boise Paper Solutions segments.

In connection with the sale, we recorded a $280.6 million pre-tax gain in our Corporate and Other segment in our Consolidated Statement of Income.  On October 29, 2004, we invested $175 million in the securities of affiliates of Boise Cascade, L.L.C.  This investment represents continuing involvement as defined in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 144, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.  Accordingly, we do not
 show the historical results of the sold paper, forest products and timberland assets as discontinued operations.  We realized net cash proceeds of approximately $3.5 billion from the sale, after allowing for the $175 million reinvestment and transaction-related settlements.  The consideration for the timberlands portion of the transaction included $1.635 billion of timber installment notes and $15 million of cash.  We monetized the timber installment notes in December for proceeds of $1.47 billion, which is included in the $3.5 billion of total net transaction proceeds noted above.

 In October 2004, OfficeMax and one of its subsidiaries each entered into interest rate swap contracts with J. Aron & Company, an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. to hedge the interest rate risk associated with the issuance of debt securities related to the timberland installment notes.  In December 2004, the contracts were cash-settled, and we recorded $19.0 million of expense in "Timber notes securitization" in the Statement of Income for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2004.

During the fourth quarter of 2004, we repaid $1.8 billion of debt and expensed $137.1 million of costs related to early retirement of debt. For more information about the sale, see our 2004 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 (4)  Acquisition of OfficeMax, Inc. On December 9, 2003, we acquired OfficeMax, Inc.  We acquired 100% of
  the voting equity interest.  The results of OfficeMax operations after December 9, 2003, are included in our OfficeMax, Contract and OfficeMax, Retail segments.  For more information about the acquisition, see our 2004 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Contact our Plano estate planning attorney now.

	Did You Know?
	A "Living Trust" can be used to hold legal title to and provide a mechanism to manage your property You can select the person or persons you want -- often even yourself -- as the Trustee(s) to carry out the instructions you want in the Trust and name one or more Successor Trustees to take over if you cannot. Unlike a Will, a Trust usually becomes effective immediately, continues in force during your lifetime even in the event of your incapacity, and continues after your death. Most Trusts are "revocable" which allows the person who creates the Trust to make future changes, modifications and even to terminate it.