UniSuper, alongside the UK’s Pension Protection Fund and a subsidiary of Dutch pension fund ABP, have acquired a 170,000-hectare hardwood plantation in Tasmania from asset manager New Forests for an undisclosed sum.
The deal also sees the consortium of institutional investors acquire Forico, Tasmania’s largest private forest management company and assets including two wood processing mills, a seedling nursery, fibre technology laboratory and a freehold facility at Long Reach.
Under the agreement, the three investors will each own 33 per cent of Forico and the forestry estate, while New Forests will retain its role as manager of the assets.
One of New Forests’ managed funds acquired the asset in 2013 with co-investors. The asset manager said it has transformed it into “one of Australia’s leading sustainable timber producers.”