Stafford Capital Partners, a London-based private markets investor overseeing $8.4 billion in assets, has notched another billion-dollar win in the timberland space. The firm announced the closing of a $1.2 billion continuation investment vehicle focused on its forestry portfolio, marking its second timberland fund to surpass the $1 billion mark this year. This achievement proves robust backing from longstanding investors and new global institutions eager for sustainable natural capital opportunities. This move also advances Stafford’s enduring timberland strategy, enabling the firm to extend the value of its forestry holdings for LPs in a dynamic market.
The Stafford International Timberland Continuation Fund consolidates three core vehicles, Funds VI, VII, and VIII, into a perpetual entity comprising dozens of forestry assets. Built over seven years, the fully invested portfolio covers over 6.3 million acres of commercial timberland in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia and Latin America, featuring prime properties in supply-constrained regions, according to the announcement.
Within the portfolio, the Fund has stakes in some of the biggest commercial timberland estates in New Zealand, one of Australia’s largest softwood forest platforms, and more than 1.6 million hectares of U.S. Southern plantations, offering geographic diversity and resilience against market shifts.
Institutional investor enthusiasm reflects timberland’s allure as a stable, inflation-hedged asset with natural capital benefits, ideal for long-term allocations by pensions and endowments. Nearly 74 percent of existing investors from Funds VI, VII, and VIII rolled over their commitments, with the rest covered by new capital. U.K. Local Government Pension Schemes led as loyal supporters, comprising over half of the fund and affirming U.K. pensions’ growing focus on quality forestry investments. The portfolio, curated from 2011 to 2018 via secondaries, primaries and co-investments, sees Stafford directly overseeing about 21 percent of assets.
Looking ahead, Stafford will not pursue further fundraising or acquisitions for the fund. Instead, it prioritizes hands-on management, streamlining around top performers and cash-flow powerhouses. This includes divesting approximately 28 percent of the holdings in the near term, a strategy projected to deliver cash yields exceeding 8 percent over the next decade, as outlined in the announcement.
Stafford Capital Partners CEO Angus Whiteley stated, “We are excited to offer investors access to one of the most diversified, high quality timberland portfolios globally, supported by our deep sector expertise and asset management. The establishment of the Continuation Fund follows closely behind our $1 billion close of SIT X, our tenth core timberland fund. We believe this further signals the growing momentum and institutional interest in timberland as a strategic asset class. Through the Continuation Fund, we can offer investors access to immediate diversification, active asset management, and a proven track record of value creation.”
Stafford Capital Partners Managing Partner Stephen Addicott commented, “The strong support from our existing investors demonstrates the continued confidence in our timberland strategy and in a market that continues to deliver stable returns. The Continuation Fund offers investors an opportunity to maintain exposure to a highly diversified, mature timberland portfolio with attractive cash yields and long-term value. The establishment of our first perpetual continuation vehicle is a testament to investors’ belief that timberland investments are a cornerstone of long-term portfolio construction by acting as a diversified source of investment returns that support carbon sequestration.”
As GAI News previously reported, Stafford earlier this year closed its flagship Stafford International Timberland Fund X at $1.04 billion in an oversubscribed raise, highlighting growing institutional appetite for timberland as a core natural capital allocation.
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