Stockholm (NordSIP) – Finnish forestry industry company UPM and United Bankers funds have reached an agreement on a forest estate transaction and long-term partnership in which UPM will sell 21,000 hectares of land in the Kainuu region of Finland to the United Bankers forest funds UB Timberland and UB Nordic Forest Fund III.
UPM, which offers high quality forestry and wood trade services, has also committed to manage United Bankers forest property while conversely United Bankers has committed to sell a considerable amount of wood to UPM on an annual basis. The wood trade agreement will enhance the kind of necessary predictability to increase the area and yield of the forests owned by the forest funds.
“United Bankers is the fastest growing player in the forest estate market and our target is to grow also in the future, said UB CEO Patrick Anderson. “Deepening cooperation with UPM brings synergy to our forest management. As a responsible and competitive actor, UPM is a natural partner for us and the contract is thus also to the benefit of our fund owners.”
The transaction amounts to one of the biggest forestry deals in the last ten years, although the exact amount is not know. United Bankers now owns forestry accounting for 110,000 hectares. UPM is one of the biggest hectare owners in Finland, owning 514,000 hectares of forest land in Finland, 75,000 in the United States and 225,000 hectares of plantations in Uruguay.
“A high proportion of forests owned by United Bankers’ forest funds is managed by UPM based on the long term partnership,” added UPM’s Forest Director Sauli Brander. “This contract also strengthens our wood sourcing in Finland.”
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