1.8 billion acres of timberland sold to TIMO

The world’s largest timber investment management organisation (TIMO), Hancock Timber Resources Group, and Molpus Woodland Group, have bought a 1.88 million acre plantation from Oregon’s Forest Capital Partners.

Hancock, which is based in Boston, has purchased some 1.35 million acres of timberland, which is spread across a number of states, including Idaho, Washington and Louisiana. Molpus, which is based in Mississippi, bought the remaining 534,000 acres in Idaho, Minnesota and Louisiana.

The timberland that has been traded between the TIMOs were accredited by independent third parties as being sustainable and both Hancock and Molpus have claimed they will keep this accreditation up.

Although the value of the deals is not known, Forest Capital has stated that most of its employees will be transferred to the buying TIMOs through the deal and its total portfolio was valued at $1.9 million this time last year.

The demand for sustainable sourced timber is growing at the moment, making it an attractive prospect for investors. Emerging economies, such as India and China have driven up prices and demand is set to increase even further in the coming years.

TIMOs such as Greenwood Management allow investors to affordably invest in timberland, while seeing returns far sooner than they would if they bought and managed their own timberland.