Two months after it was initially announced, the sale of Anderson-Tully became official Monday.

The Vicksburg-based sawmill was purchased by Vicksburg Forest Products LLC., which is headquartered in Jackson. The parent company of Vicksburg Forest Products also owns Southeastern Timber Products, which owns and operates a mill in Ackerman.

The purchase by Vicksburg Forest Products only includes the mill operation and not the roughly 300,000 acres of timberland owned by Anderson-Tully throughout Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.

The state of Mississippi is reportedly in discussions to purchase roughly 17,000 acres of that land located near Eagle Lake from Anderson-Tully to create a new Wildlife Management Area.

When the impending sale was announced in March, a letter from the previous owners sent to Mississippi Department of Employment Security and local officials announced the new owners, who were not named at the time, would be laying off the entire workforce of 158 people.

A press release from Vicksburg Forest Products announcing the sale said the plant has been closed as they undergo “a significant investment project at the site.” When it reopens, it will no longer be operated under the name Anderson-Tully.

Assistant manager William Van Devender Jr. said they are not sure how many of the 158 terminated positions they will be rehiring once the plant reopens in July.

Anderson-Tully, which has operated in Vicksburg since 1889 and was sold to The Forestland Group in 2006, was a hardwood sawmill, but under the new owners the mill will be switched to handle mostly southern yellow pine with the capability of, “complementing pine production with hardwood production as market conditions dictate.”

“The current market conditions and our experience in that business,” Van Devender Jr. said of why they chose to switch the mill over to pine.

“One shift for now with the possibility of expansion to a second shift depending upon market conditions and workforce availability,” he added.

According to the press release, they will be able to produce 100 million board feet of pine annually.

The release said applications will be available starting June 1 and they will begin hiring workers shortly after.

To contact Vicksburg Forest Products with questions about how to apply email jobs@vicksburgfp.com.

“We look forward to having a long and prosperous future in the Vicksburg community and the Warren County area,” said manager Billy Van Devender.