Carey Olsen advises AXA on Australia's largest recent forestry acquisition
A cross-jurisdictional Carey Olsen team, led by the firm's Singapore corporate practice, has advised AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) on its acquisition of the Green Triangle Forest Products (GTFP) plantation and forestry management business in Australia from US fund manager Global Forest Partners.
The deal, which was completed at the end of 2021, is believed to represent the biggest timber industry sale in Australia since 2012.
It sees AXA IM add more than 22,000 hectares of radiata pine plantations in the country's premier forestry region, the Green Triangle, which straddles the states of Victoria and South Australia, to its already existing forestry portfolio that includes plantations across France, Ireland and Finland.
Working alongside lead counsel King & Wood Mallesons on the acquisition and Clayton Utz on the financing, the Carey Olsen team advising on the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda corporate, finance and trust aspects of the transaction was led by partner Anthony McKenzie, assisted by senior associate Susan McKinstray, counsel Chris Duncan and associate Eng How Cheow.
Anthony said: "We were delighted to assist AXA IM on this groundbreaking deal, which involved multiple sets of foreign counsel spanning across various practice areas. The purchase of the GTFP portfolio not only underlines the AXA IM's appetite for sustainability-themed investments but also its own journey towards a low carbon environment."
