Potlatch Corp., of Spokane, reported this afternoon that it has agreed to buy 201,000 acres of timberlands in Alabama and Mississippi for $384 million.

The land, which Potlatch is acquiring from affiliates of Resource Management Service LLC, will expand Potlatch’s ownership in the southern U.S. by almost 50 percent and will increase its total acreage under management to nearly 1.6 million acres.

The transaction is expected to be completed late in the fourth quarter. The company said in a press release that it plans to finance the acquisition with new long-term debt and cash.

Separately, Potlatch announced third-quarter net income of $33.2 million, or 81 cents a diluted share, up from income of $22.2 million, or 54 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

The increased earnings came on $177.2 million in revenue during the third quarter, up from $157.9 million in the year-earlier period.

Michael Covey, Potlatch’s chairman and CEO, said in a release that the company’s wood products, real estate, and resource businesses all continue to perform well, though its planned harvest was constrained by wet weather in the South.