AUBURN – It’s too soon to tell whether International Paper’s purchase Monday of Weyerhaeuser Co.’s packaging and recycling division will be felt on Allied Road.

That’s where IP’s Auburn plant manufactures containerboard and corrugated boxes for customers throughout New England.

“We’re evaluating, taking a look at their facilities, but there’s not another (Weyerhaeuser) facility in Maine, so Auburn probably would be fine,” said Patty Neuhoff, director of communications for IP.

The Auburn plant employs 141 people. Calls to local plant managers were referred to IP’s corporate communications department in Memphis.

Geography is key in the box-making division of IP, since the finished products are expensive to transport, Neuhoff said.

“Normally, box-making plants service customers within a two-to-three-to-four-hour driving radius,” she said. “They’re too bulky and big to ship them too far.”

The $6 billion cash deal between the paper-making giants won’t be finalized until mid-summer. According to company releases, Weyerhaeuser was interested in selling the box-making division because it wants to focus on timber, wood products and real estate divisions.

IP officials said the acquisition improves its geographic presence in the U.S. and Mexico and diversifies customer base in key lines. It estimates $400 million in cost savings and a $1.4 billion tax benefit from the buyout. Forty percent of the estimated savings are expected within the first year of ownership.

The combination would raise IP’s share of the North American containerboard market from 7 percent to 13 percent, and make it the largest containerboard maker in the U.S.

Neuhoff said while specifics of the buyout won’t be known until much later, the Auburn plant has always excelled within IP’s containerboard division.

“Auburn has a fantastic reputation.” Neuhoff said.

Last month, the plant received an award from the Department of Labor for attaining the highest level possible in its voluntary protection program. The award recognizes companies that are committed to employee protection beyond Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, and that encourage cooperative relationships among labor, management and government.