North American forest products company Rayonier has announced it plans to offer its New Zealand timberlands for sale.
Rayonier has a 40% stake in 343,000 acres of timberland in New Zealand through the Matariki Forests joint venture, for which it provides management services.
Matariki Forests is a consortium of Rayonier, Deutsche Bank and AMP Capital Investors, and controls New Zealand’s third largest forest estate.
“The decision to offer this high quality radiata pine estate allows the joint venture to tap the private market’s strong appetite for timberland as an attractive asset class,” said chief executive officer Lee Thomas.
“We will work with the other Matariki owners to select a financial adviser and begin marketing this property within the next three months.”
It is expected the sale will be completed sometime in 2009.
