Timberland asset management company Forest First Columbia (FFC) has already raised $24 million in common equity and plans to raise an additional $46 million in equity and the balance in debt to fund a plantation in Columbia. Between 2010 and 2013 Forest First planted 2,000 hectares of trees and in 2014 will plant another 3,000 hectares. FFC is planning to raise $10 million before the end of the year to fund the further planting of 7,000 hectares of trees in 2015. The company then plans to plant an additional 14,000 hectares each following year with an end date for the project of 2025. Tobey Russ, chief executive of Forest First predicts that the return on equity for the latest round of fundraising will be between 26% – 27% and states that the company is planning for an initial public offering within three to five years. FCC is planting acacia and eucalyptus hardwood trees to be used for construction, paper, heating pellets, and for energy production – especially in the EU where companies will need to replace 20% of their coal produced energy with wood. The plantation’s first harvest will be in 2018.
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