The UK’s Pension Protection Fund (PPF), Australian superannuation fund UniSuper and APG Asset Management, the asset manager for Europe’s largest pension fund ABP have acquired Tasmanian forest management firm Forico alongside a 170,000-hectare plantation forestry estate in Tasmania from Australian investment manager New Forests.
Under the agreement, the three investors will each own 33% of Forico and the forestry estate as a direct investment. New Forests will be retained to provide investment management services.
Forico is Tasmania’s largest private forest management company. The forestry estate is one of Australia’s largest plantation hardwood estates by productive area.
It also owns key infrastructure along the supply chain consisting of two wood processing mills, a seedling nursery, fibre technology laboratory, and port access via a freehold facility at Long Reach, Tasmania.
APG manages approximately €540 billion euros in pension assets on behalf of public sector pension fund ABP. It has also built a considerable forestry portfolio over the years, including the acquisition of a production forest in Chile in 2021.
Similarly, UniSuper, at A$120 billion one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds has been investing in timberland for almost a decade.
The £33bn PPF, which acts as a lifeboat for corporate DB schemes in the UK, has over the past years already built a £1bn stake in forestry investments.
Alex Leonard, head of infrastructure, timberland & farmland at the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) commented on the recent transaction: “We are particularly attracted to the strong growth prospects for hardwood fibre, and Forico’s position at the forefront of advances in silviculture, the circular bioeconomy and natural capital. Adding this high quality, well-managed asset to our existing timberland portfolio benefits those who rely on us through strong investment returns while delivering tangible, long-term environmental benefits.”
