VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES AND PREFERRED SECURITIES OF SUBSIDIARIES

Variable Interest Entities

In connection with the 2006 sale of approximately 5.6 million acres of forestlands, International Paper received installment notes (the Timber Notes) totaling approximately $4.8 billion. The Timber Notes, which do not require principal payments prior to their August 2016 maturity, are supported by irrevocable letters of credit obtained by the buyers of the forestlands.

During 2006, International Paper contributed the Timber Notes to newly formed entities (the Borrower Entities) in exchange for Class A and Class B interests in these entities. Subsequently, International Paper contributed its $200 million Class A interests in the Borrower Entities, along with approximately $400 million of International Paper promissory notes, to other newly formed entities (the Investor Entities, and together with the Borrower Entities, the Entities) in exchange for Class A and Class B interests in these entities, and simultaneously sold its Class A interest in the Investor Entities to a third party investor. As a result, at December 31, 2006, International Paper held Class B interests in the Borrower Entities and Class B interests in the Investor Entities valued at approximately $5.0 billion. International Paper did not provide any financial support that was not previously contractually required for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and the year ended December 31, 2013.

Following the 2006 sale of forestlands and creation of the Entities discussed above, the Timber Notes were used as collateral for borrowings from third party lenders, which effectively monetized the Timber Notes. Provisions of certain loan agreements require any bank issuing letters of credit supporting the Timber Notes to maintain a credit rating at or above a specified threshold. In the event the credit rating of a letter of credit bank is downgraded below the specified threshold, the letters of credit must be replaced within 60 days with letters of credit from a qualifying financial institution or for one of the letter of credit banks, collateral must be posted. The Company, retained to provide management services for the third-party entities that hold the Timber Notes, has, as required by the loan agreements, successfully replaced banks that fell below the specified threshold.

Also during 2006, the Entities acquired approximately $4.8 billion of International Paper debt obligations for cash, resulting in a total of approximately $5.2 billion of International Paper debt obligations held by the Entities at December 31, 2006. The various agreements entered into in connection with these transactions provide that International Paper has, and intends to affect, a legal right to offset its obligation under these debt instruments with its investments in the Entities. Accordingly, for financial reporting purposes, International Paper has offset approximately $5.2 billion of Class B interests in the Entities against $5.3 billion of International Paper debt obligations held by these Entities at March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. Despite the offset treatment, these remain debt obligations of International Paper. Remaining borrowings of $69 million and $67 million at March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively, are included in Long-term debt in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet. Additional debt related to the above transaction of $79 million is included in Notes payable and current maturities of long-term debt at March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013.

Activity between the Company and the Entities was as follows:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
In millions	2014		2013
Revenue (a)	$	10	$	13
Expense (a)	18		22
Cash receipts (b)	12		19
Cash payments (c)	37		45


(a)	The net expense related to the Company’s interest in the Entities is included in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations, as International Paper has and intends to affect its legal right to offset as discussed above.


(b)	The cash receipts are equity distributions from the Entities to International Paper.


(c)	The semi-annual payments are related to interest on the associated debt obligations discussed above.

Based on an analysis of the Entities discussed above under guidance that considers the potential magnitude of the variability in the structures and which party has a controlling financial interest, International Paper determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of the Entities, and therefore, does not consolidate its investments in these entities. It was also determined that the source of variability in the structures is the value of the Timber Notes, the assets most significantly impacting the structure’s economic performance. The credit quality of the Timber Notes is supported by irrevocable letters of credit obtained by third party buyers which are 100% cash collateralized. International Paper analyzed which party has control over the economic performance of each entity, and concluded International Paper does not have control over significant decisions surrounding the Timber Notes and letters of credit and therefore is not the primary beneficiary. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss equals the value of the Timber Notes; however, an analysis performed by the Company concluded the likelihood of this exposure is remote.

The use of the above entities facilitated the monetization of the credit enhanced Timber Notes in a cost effective manner by increasing the borrowing capacity and lowering the interest rate while continuing to preserve the tax deferral that resulted from the forestlands installment sales and the offset accounting treatment described above.

In connection with the acquisition of Temple-Inland in February 2012, two special purpose entities became wholly-owned subsidiaries of International Paper.

In October 2007, Temple-Inland sold 1.55 million acres of timberland for $2.38 billion. The total consideration consisted almost entirely of notes due in 2027 issued by the buyer of the timberland, which Temple-Inland contributed to two wholly-owned, bankruptcy-remote special purpose entities. The notes are shown in Financial assets of special purpose entities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet and are supported by $2.38 billion of irrevocable letters of credit issued by three banks, which are required to maintain minimum credit ratings on their long-term debt. In the third quarter of 2012, International Paper completed its preliminary analysis of the acquisition date fair value of the notes and determined it to be$2.09 billion. As of March 31, 2014, the fair value of the notes was $2.43 billion.

In December 2007, Temple-Inland’s two wholly-owned special purpose entities borrowed $2.14 billion shown in Nonrecourse financial liabilities of special purpose entities. The loans are repayable in 2027 and are secured only by the $2.38 billion of notes and the irrevocable letters of credit securing the notes and are nonrecourse to us. The loan agreements provide that if a credit rating of any of the banks issuing the letters of credit is downgraded below the specified threshold, the letters of credit issued by that bank must be replaced within 30 days with letters of credit from another qualifying financial institution. In the third quarter of 2012, International Paper completed its preliminary analysis of the acquisition date fair value of the borrowings and determined it to be $2.03 billion. As of March 31, 2014, the fair value of this debt was $2.32 billion.

Activity between the Company and the 2007 financing entities was as follows:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
In millions	2014		2013
Revenue (a)	$	6	$	7
Expense (b)	6		8
Cash receipts (c)	2		2
Cash payments (d)	5		6


(a)	The revenue is included in Interest expense, net in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations and includes approximately $5 million for each of the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, of accretion income for the amortization of the purchase accounting adjustment on the Financial assets of special purpose entities.


(b)	The expense is included in Interest expense, net in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations and includes approximately $2 million for each of the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, of accretion expense for the amortization of the purchase accounting adjustment on the Nonrecourse financial liabilities of special purpose entities.


(c)	The cash receipts are interest received on the Financial assets of special purpose entities.


(d)	The cash payments are interest paid on Nonrecourse financial liabilities of special purpose entities.

Preferred Securities of Subsidiaries

In March 2003, Southeast Timber, Inc. (Southeast Timber), a consolidated subsidiary of International Paper, issued $150 million of preferred securities to a private investor with future dividend payments based on LIBOR. Southeast Timber, which through a subsidiary initially held approximately 1.5 million acres of forestlands in the southern United States, was International Paper’s primary vehicle for sales of southern forestlands. As of March 31, 2014, substantially all of these forestlands have been sold. On March 27, 2013, Southeast Timber redeemed its Class A common shares owned by the private investor for $150 million. Distributions paid to the third-party investor were $1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013. The expense related to these preferred securities is shown in Net earnings (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations.