Strategic acquisitions by Minter Ellison client Australian Bluegum Plantations
July, 2012 - Sydney, New South Wales
This week, Australian Bluegum Plantations Pty Limited added some high quality assets to its portfolio. Australian Bluegum Plantations is owned by an international forestry investment fund advised by Global Forest Partners, a leader in global timberland investments and one of the biggest plantation managers in Australia.
The company signed an agreement to acquire Gunns Limited's woodchip export facility at the Port of Portland for approx A$61.8 million and it completed the acquisition of Elders' pulpwood assets in Albany, Bunbury and the Green Triangle.
The Port of Portland transaction, which is subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals, provides a tolling arrangement for future access by Gunns to the woodchip export facility for the sale of forest products from the Green Triangle in Victoria and South Australia that are under Gunns' management. Under the deal with Elders, Australian Bluegum Plantations acquired 12,400 hectares of freehold land in Albany, Bunbury and the Green Triangle; the Albany woodchip export facility owned and operated by Pulpwood Plantations Terminals Pty Ltd; and Elders-owned standing timber in Albany, Bunbury and the Green Triangle.
Minter Ellison advised long-standing client Global Forest Partners and Australian Bluegum Plantations on both transactions. Our corporate advisory team comprised partners Callen O'Brien and Martin Bennett, special counsel Andrew Wright and lawyer Daniel Malouf.
