Two of the largest owners of timber land in the United States have announced a merger they say will create a $23 billion timber, land and forest products company. Weyerhauser Company will acquire Plum Creek Timber Company Inc. in a deal the companies say will create the largest timber company in the United States.

Plum Creek is the single largest private landholder in Montana, with approximately 770,000 acres of forest and timber land in its portfolio of assets. Plum Creek owns a total of 6.2 million total acres of land in 19 states. The new company, which will operate under the Weyerhauser name, will manage more than 13 million acres of timber land in the United States and Canada. The merger, the company said in a press release, will allow the company to capitalize on the recovering American housing construction market and drive economies of scale moving forward.

“We’re pleased to join forces with Weyerhauser, a company who shares our commitment to sustainable forestry and supporting local communities,” said Plum Creek spokesperson Kathy Budinick from Plum Creek’s Seattle, Wash., headquarters. “Weyerhauser has a strong history of wood products manufacturing with more than 30 wood products manufacturing facilities in the United States and Canada.”

The proposed deal, which has yet to be ratified by the stockholders of each company, was approved unanimously by the boards of directors of both companies and announced Sunday, Nov. 8. The deal calls for Plum Creek shareholders to receive 1.6 shares of Weyerhauser stock for each outstanding Plum Creek share. With 174 million Plum Creek shares outstanding and Weyerhauser’s closing price of $30.40 on Friday, the deal is valued at approximately $8.4 billion.

Once the deal is concluded, the company’s board of directors will expand to 13 directors, with eight from Weyerhauser and five from Plum Creek. Plum Creek Chief Executive Officer Rick Holley will be one of the chairman of the board, but in a non-executive capacity, meaning he won’t be employed by the new company.

Operations in Libby, and in the rest of Plum Creek’s offices, are expected to remain much as they are now – at least for the time being.

“It’s really business as usual for the time being,” Budinick said. “We’ll see how things develop as we move forward.”

Budinick added the final approval from the shareholders of each company is expected soon, with final closing of the deal targeted for the end of the first quarter of 2016 or very early in the second quarter.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity,” she said. “We’re looking forward to merging with Weyerhauser and creating a new company.”