DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS AND OTHER DIVESTITURES

OPERATIONS DIVESTED

On October 12, 2016, we announced the exploration of strategic alternatives for our Uruguay timberlands and manufacturing operations, which was part of our Timberlands business segment. On June 2, 2017, the Weyerhaeuser Board of Directors approved an equity purchase agreement with a consortium led by BTG Pactual's Timberland Investment Group (TIG), including other long-term investors, pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell, in exchange for $403 million in cash, all of its equity interest in the subsidiaries that collectively owned and operated its Uruguayan timberlands and manufacturing operations.

On September 1, 2017, we completed the sale of our Uruguay timberlands and manufacturing operations for approximately $403 million of cash proceeds. Due to the impairment of our Uruguayan operations recorded during second quarter 2017 (refer to Note 15: Charges for Integration and Restructuring, Closures and Asset Impairments), no material gain or loss was recorded as a result of this sale. As of September 30, 2017, no assets or liabilities related to our Uruguayan operations remain on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

The sale of our Uruguayan operations was not considered a strategic shift that had or will have a major effect on our operations or financial results, and therefore did not meet the requirements for presentation as discontinued operations.

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

During 2016, we entered into three separate transactions to sell our Cellulose Fibers business. As a result of these transactions, the company recognized a pretax gain on disposition of $789 million and total cash proceeds of $2.5 billion in the second half of 2016. These transactions consisted of:


•	sale of our Cellulose Fibers liquid packaging board business to Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd, which closed on August 31, 2016;


•	sale of our Cellulose Fibers printing papers joint venture to One Rock Capital Partners, LLC, which closed on November 1, 2016; and


•	sale of our Cellulose Fibers pulp business to International Paper, which closed on December 1, 2016.

The results of operations for our pulp and liquid packaging board businesses, along with our interest in our printing papers joint venture, were reclassified to discontinued operations during our 2016 reporting year. These results have been summarized in "Earnings from discontinued operations, net of income taxes" on our Consolidated Statement of Operations for each period presented. We did not reclassify our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows to reflect discontinued operations.

The following table presents net earnings from discontinued operations. As all discontinued operations were sold in 2016, no assets or liabilities remain as of September 30, 2017, or December 31, 2016.



	QUARTER ENDED			YEAR-TO-DATE ENDED
DOLLAR AMOUNTS IN MILLIONS	SEPTEMBER 2016			SEPTEMBER 2016
Total net sales	$	420		$	1,306
Costs of products sold	350			1,110
Gross margin	70			196
Selling expenses	3			10
General and administrative expenses	7			24
Research and development expenses	—			3
Charges for integration and restructuring, closures and asset impairments⁽¹⁾	13			44
Other operating income, net	(2		)	(21		)
Operating income	49			136
Equity loss from joint venture	—			(3		)
Interest expense, net of capitalized interest	(2		)	(5		)
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	47			128
Income taxes	(23		)	(46		)
Net earnings from operations	24			82
Net gain on divestiture of Liquid Packaging Board	41			41
Net earnings from discontinued operations	$	65		$	123


(1)	Charges relate to our strategic evaluation of the Cellulose Fibers businesses and transaction-related costs.

Cash flows from discontinued operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, are as follows:



	QUARTER ENDED		YEAR-TO-DATE ENDED
DOLLAR AMOUNTS IN MILLIONS	SEPTEMBER 2016		SEPTEMBER 2016
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	58	$	192
Net cash provided by investing activities	$	259	$	225