Rayonier’s Wood Products, headquartered in Baxley, with lumber mills also in Swainsboro and Eatonton, has been sold to Canada-based International Forest Products Limited for $80 million.

The new company agreed to hire all of Rayonier’s 260 employees, according to a news release.

The three mills contributed about $10 million in operating income to Rayonier in 2012, the release stated.

“This sale represents another key move in our strategy to fully position our manufacturing operations in the specialty chemicals sector,” Paul Boynton, Rayonier chairman, president and CEO, said in the release.

International Forest Products is a leading producer of lumber and wood products, primarily in the Northwest U.S. and Canada, the release stated. This is the company’s first acquisition of a manufacturing operation in the Southeast U.S.

Rayonier owns, leases or manages 2.7 million acres of timber and land in the U.S. and New Zealand, the release stated. About 45 percent of the company’s sales are to customers in about 40 countries.

To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223.