South Australia - SA forests sold to The Campbell Group

The South Australian state government has agreed to sell the South East timber harvesting rights to a consortium led by The Campbell Group (TCG) for an undisclosed amount. Backed by Australia’s Future Fund, the U.S. based timberland investment group outbid proposals from Hancocks and New Forests for the rights to manage three forward rotations of the region’s forests.Treasurer Jack Snelling says he is pleased with the price the government settled on but he was not willing to disclose the amount until financial closure has occurred. “It is significantly greater than what has been speculated about, it is a very good deal for South Australian tax payers,” he said. Mr Snelling says he expects financial closure to happen in the next few weeks.

TCG is based in Oregon, USA and manages plantations worth $5.2 billion in timberland assets. This will be their first presence in Australia and Mr Snelling says he expects that they would be looking to build upon expertise within Forestry SA.

Mr Snelling says the forestry forward sale is a separate issue to the issue between Carter Holt Harvey and Forestry SA over log prices.