Eversheds Sutherland Advises on One of the Largest Private Conservation-Focused Forest Investments in US History

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that it served as co-counsel to client Blue Source Sustainable Forests Company (BSFC) in one of the largest private forest carbon investments in US history, valued at approximately $1.8 billion. BSFC is a joint venture between Anew Climate, LLC and Oak Hill Advisors, L.P. focused on forest acquisitions and sustainable forest management. 

Eversheds Sutherland advised BSFC in the acquisition of entities managed by The Forestland Group (TFG) that own timberland portfolio comprising 1.7 million acres and in entering into definitive agreements to acquire additional TFG-managed entities that own an additional timberland portfolio comprising approximately two hundred thousand acres. 

Eversheds Sutherland Partners Ram C. Sunkara and Victor P. Haley led the deal team in this transaction with assistance from Partners Joshua L. Belcher, Michael A. Hepburn, M. Hill Jeffries, Daniel R. McKeithen, Lance J. Phillips, Virginia E. Worthy, Scott Wright, Counsel Ronnie Dabbasi, Doyle Campbell, Paul R. Hogan, Will Pickens, Laura Taylor, Senior Attorney Lamine C. Hardaway, and Associates Cyavash N. Ahmadi, Frank Comparetto III, Kailyn G. Coots, Natalia Cosío Ondiviela, Alexandra N. Franklin, Andi J. Kriha, Angelica H. Li and Robin N. Raasch.

With 110,000 acres previously purchased for carbon sequestration in New York, Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, BSFC’s portfolio will exceed 1.9 million acres upon completion of all TFG-related acquisitions. This acquisition also expands the nature-based and agricultural portion of Anew’s carbon development portfolio, which includes numerous private, indigenous, and public lands, to over 5.6 million acres primarily in North America.

BSFC is the first of the industry’s ten largest forestland owners to commit to prioritizing climate mitigation practices. BSFC management will maintain the lands as working forestlands under carbon development requirements which are the strictest in the industry. Selective harvests, significantly below annual tree growth levels, will prioritize the restoration of native biodiversity, bolster the forests’ natural defenses against disasters such as fire or disease, and produce high value timber products.

About Eversheds Sutherland’s Timber & Forest Products Group

Since our inception, Eversheds Sutherland has been a legal innovator in the timber and forest products industries. We helped the timberland investment management organization (TIMO) industry get off the ground more than 30 years ago by securing the first in a series of IRS private letter rulings that opened the door for pension funds, university endowments and other tax-exempt organizations to invest substantial capital in timberlands. In 1999, we obtained one of the first rulings from the IRS that confirmed our analysis that timberlands are appropriate assets for real estate investment trusts (REIT) and that harvesting timber produces qualifying REIT income.

For decades, we have represented investment managers, owners, investors, borrowers and institutional lenders in complex timber acquisition, disposition, finance and restructuring transactions. Our Timber and Forest Products Practice Group includes corporate, environmental, finance, litigation, real estate and tax attorneys, who work as a collaborative team and understand the diverse challenges in structuring investments in today’s timber market. We represent global investors and funds in their evaluation and acquisition of timberland properties throughout the world and are fortunate to be involved in virtually every significant timberland transaction.

About Eversheds Sutherland

As a global top 10 law practice, Eversheds Sutherland provides legal services to a global client base ranging from small and mid-sized businesses to the largest multinationals, acting for 79 of the Fortune 100, 65 of the FTSE 100 and 134 of the Fortune 200.

With more than 3,000 lawyers, Eversheds Sutherland operates in over 70 offices in more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. In addition, a network of more than 200 related law firms, including formalized alliances in Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa, provide support around the globe.

Eversheds Sutherland provides the full range of legal services, including corporate and M&A; dispute resolution and litigation; energy and infrastructure; finance; human capital and labor law; intellectual property; real estate and construction; and tax.

Eversheds Sutherland is a global legal practice and comprises two separate legal entities: Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP (headquartered in the UK) and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP (headquartered in the US), and their respective controlled, managed, affiliated and member firms. The use of the name Eversheds Sutherland is for description purposes only and does not imply that the member firms or their controlled, managed or affiliated entities are in a partnership or are part of a global LLP. For more information, visit eversheds-sutherland.com.