MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE:MWV) today announced that it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Goldman, Sachs & Co. to purchase $400 million of MeadWestvaco’s outstanding common stock, with the majority of the shares received immediately. The exact number of shares bought back will be determined at the conclusion of the agreement, which is expected to take up to six months to complete.

The $400 million stock repurchase, which has been authorized by MeadWestvaco’s Board of Directors, will be funded with the proceeds from the completed sales of approximately 290,000 acres of owned forestlands and 95,000 acres of forestlands under long-term timber contracts.

“We are delivering on our commitment to return to shareholders the excellent value we generated from these forestland sales,” said John A. Luke, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer. “We expect to continue to drive shareholder value by generating sustainable earnings and cash flow growth through our global packaging platform and land management business.”

About MeadWestvaco

MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE:MWV) provides packaging solutions to many of the world’s most-admired brands in the food and beverage, media and entertainment, personal care, home and garden, cosmetics, and healthcare industries. The company has market-leading positions in its Consumer & Office Products and Specialty Chemicals businesses, and operates in more than 30 countries. MeadWestvaco manages all of its forestlands in accordance with internationally recognized forest certification standards, and has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the fourth consecutive year.