G-P shareholders approve split of company, IPO set

ATLANTA - The board of Georgia-Pacific Corporation voted Tuesday to separate the company&#39;s lucrative consumer products business into a new company and sell some of its shares to the public. <br> <br> Georgia-Pacific will continue as a building products and distribution firm, with annual sales of about $13 billion. <br> <br> The IPO is scheduled for the third quarter. <br> <br> It will involve 15 percent to 20 percent of the new company, which has yearly sales of more than $12 billion from brands such as Angel Soft and Quilted Northern bathroom tissue and Brawny paper towels. <br> <br> Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific will use the funds from the sale to pay off debt and distribute the remaining shares to its shareholders next year. <br> <br> Shareholders met today in Augusta, where the company was established 75 years ago as a lumberyard.