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Mirvac selling forestry land

The Mirvac Group is selling one of the last of its legacy funds management assets – more than 20,000 hectares of forestry land held by Australian Sustainable Forestry Investors. Source: The Land

The Mirvac managed fund bought the land from the managed investment scheme Timbercorp in 2004. When Timbercorp collapsed, the fund emerged as its biggest single landlord according to the Australian Financial Review.

At June 30, 2012, Australian Sustainable Forestry Investors had three institutional investors, one of which was Mirvac itself, and funds under management of $57 million.

The Mirvac forestry portfolio consists of 68 parcels of blue gum plantation and farming land – 20,657 hectares all up – in the Green Triangle of Victoria and South Australia and in south-west Western Australia.

Colliers International’s director of rural and agribusiness Tim Altschwager and executive Jesse Manuel will manage the sale.

Altschwager said the Mirvac properties were a “significant and important portfolio offering”.

“Since 2010 ownership in this sector has been diversifying and as an asset class, it is now considered a very attractive investment for institutional, private and offshore investors,” he said.

Major investors like the Future Fund, the Swedish pension fund Forsta AP-fonden and the Boston-based Hancock Timber Resource Group have bought Australian timberland since the collapse of the managed investment trust boom.

But some of the debris of the collapse remains, with Timbercorp and Gunns assets still to be sold.

The Mirvac portfolio is for sale in whole or parts with expressions of interest to close on June 13.

Most properties are leased to Australian Bluegum Plantations, but some of the trees have been harvested and the agreements with ABP terminated.

ABP was created by the US-based Global Forest Partners LP in 2009 to buy and manage blue gum plantations on land that now has more than 90,000 hectares of trees.

Altschwager said the sale of such a large holding of prime plantation and farming land was rare.

“We envisage this will appeal to forestry industry participants and all those attracted to the holding’s development potential.”

Mirvac declined to comment on the sale, but it has been disposing of non-core funds management operations acquired in boom years. Remaining operations include the JF Infrastructure Fund and the listed US-based Mirvac Industrial Trust.