APG Asset Management Buys Majority Stake in US Forest

The Dutch pension giant acquired a large share of a 270-square-mile woodland area that spans Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi and is worth $462 million

APG Asset Management, acting on behalf of $722 billion Dutch pension fund ABP, acquired a majority stake in a 70,000-hectare (270-square-mile) forest in the southern U.S. that is worth $462 million. The land, located in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, will be managed by timberland investment management company Molpus Woodlands Group LLC, according to its announcement. The acquisition price was not disclosed.

According to APG Asset Management, it plans to expand conservation on the land by designating certain areas as “forests with exceptional conservation value,” defined as “imperiled, critically imperiled, threatened or endangered,” according to the nonprofit Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

APG will commit to making 11 billion euros ($13 billion) in climate and biodiversity investments by 2030, at which time it expects to have added nearly 2 million tons of standing forest carbon. According to APG, this is the first investment made under its Private Natural Capital mandate. The mandate is intended to be a platform to invest in “natural assets” that provide strong returns and environmental improvements.

APG and Molpus agreed that an undisclosed amount of the carried interest that Mississippi-based Molpus will earn on the investment is contingent on meeting independently verified key performance targets, “specifically, increasing forest carbon stocks and expanding conservation areas,” according to APG.

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