By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (TIG), which oversees $7.3 billion in assets under management, has ramped up its acreage in the U.S. timberland market. The timberland investment manager has purchased more than 107,000 acres of sustainably managed timberlands in Central Virginia from the Weyerhaeuser Company, marking another step in BTG Pactual TIG’s steady expansion across North American forestry assets.
The transaction ranks among Virginia’s most notable timberland deals in recent years, strengthening BTG Pactual TIG’s regional foothold while lifting its U.S. portfolio to approximately 1.6 million acres under management. The move dovetails with TIG’s wider strategy of amassing timberland assets in territories where it already holds an operational edge.
The property, certified under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, features loblolly pine, a fast-growing staple of the Southern U.S. timber economy, appreciated for its speedy growth cycle and wide-ranging use cases in construction, pulp and biofuels, which played into Weyerhaeuser’s model as well. Also attractive from an investment standpoint, the property benefits from strong infrastructure, ready access to regional mills and export channels, and a diversified age profile across its timber stands, supporting TIG’s value-add model as well as cash flow generation.
The deal also builds on a partnership that BTG Pactual TIG and The Nature Conservancy have been developing since 2021, when the two organizations first joined forces to bring conservation science into the heart of TIG’s U.S. timberland strategy. In that arrangement, NatureVest, the impact-investing arm of TNC, serves as a conservation advisor, helping TIG weave ecological perspectives and long-term stewardship goals into how its core timberland assets are managed.
BTG Pactual TIG Head Gerrity Lansing stated, “We are pleased to add these high‑quality, well‑managed timberlands to our U.S. portfolio and strengthen our presence in the region. This acquisition supports our strategy of investing in sustainably managed timberland with long‑term value potential and offers further opportunities to expand the reach and impact of local conservation efforts through our collaboration with The Nature Conservancy.”
Cat Burns, Managing Director of NatureVest, The Nature Conservancy, commented, “Expanding the portfolio’s footprint by over 100,000 acres broadens our capacity to amplify impact across the landscape. Forest management practices that are best suited to enhance biodiversity are highly site-specific. We optimize where each practice is implemented and ensure that it is synergistic with forestry operations. As the size of the portfolio increases, so do the opportunities to optimize for impact.”
Early observations of the Central Virginia property by The Nature Conservancy point to features that extend beyond timber production and into how the land will be managed over decades. About a quarter of the timberland acreage overlaps with areas that support a richer mix of plant and animal life, while roughly 50 miles of resilient stream channels thread through the forest landscape.
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