July 6, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Superior Pine Products, a multi-generational, family-owned business that owns and operates forestland and agricultural businesses across Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina, announced it has expanded its footprint, acquiring more than 58,000 acres of high-quality timberland near El Dorado, Arkansas, and Monroe, Louisiana. 

The property, known as the “Castle Timberland property” was acquired for an undisclosed amount from Molpus Woodlands Group – an investment vehicle  that acquires, manages, and sells timberland for pension funds, college endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and high-net-worth individuals. Although founded in 1996 as a timber investment management organization (TIMO), it has a legacy dating back to 1905, making it one of the oldest timber-related companies in the U.S.

“The Molpus team worked with us to negotiate and execute this transaction quickly and efficiently and  during their tenure managing the lands they focused on optimizing their biological and financial potential while practicing excellent forest stewardship,” said Scott Griffin, president and CEO, Superior Pine.

“We appreciated having an opportunity to work with  them and we intend to employ the same high-quality forest management principles as we assume the oversight  and operation of the lands.”

Although the U.S. Northwest has been typically what people think of when considering forest and timberland, the Southeast region’s huge swaths of forests and more lax regulatory landscape has gained the region the bulk of attention from buyers such as Roseburg Forest Products – a company originally begun in Oregon, but has since bought 200,000 acres of forestland in the Southeast over the brief span of the past five years. 

Over the course of those same five years, in order to match this uptick in acquisitions and activity, the U.S. South has seen timber milling capacity jump by 30 percent, according to timber consulting firm, Beck Group. This increase in milling capacity has resulted in the South producing 21 billion board-feet of lumber in 2020 – approaching double what it produced in 2010 (12.5 billion board-feet).

Superior Pine cited many of the same factors when discussing its management plans for its newly acquired land, stating that Canadian and U.S. lumber, building panel, and oriented strand board (OSB) manufacturers are expanding their presence in Arkansas and Louisiana due to the availability of high-quality timber, access to domestic and global markets, and the pro-business stance of the two states.

“We are focused on diversifying our asset holdings geographically to increase our market reach beyond  our current area of operations in southern Georgia and southern Alabama,” said William Lawrence, chairman of  the board, Superior Pine Products Company. “This transaction is a great fit with our plans because it gives us a  presence in two new markets characterized by diverse and growing demand for sustainably grown forest  products.”

As the new owner of the Castle Timberland property Superior Pine stated that it plans to tap into the region’s growing wood market, but also envisions monetizing the asset’s various natural capital values.

Corey Davis, vice president of forest operations, explained that this could  take the form of the potential development of solar energy projects, or the development and sale of carbon offset credits. Additionally, a portion of the land has the potential to develop wetland mitigation banking projects – all projects that represent additional investment value for the company. 

And although financial details of the deal were not disclosed at this time, Griffin explained that Superior Pine was able to leverage proceeds from a “significant disposition” earlier in the year for this acquisition through a 1031 exchange purchase, adding, “Due to its size and scale, we worked with  AgSouth Farm Credit, ACA to finance the residual amount. We have partnered with AgSouth on multiple projects,  and their support has always been outstanding.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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