B&E counsels BTG Pactual’s TIG, BCI and APG on $385.5m Arauco´s assests acquisition

Barros & Errázuriz has advised a consortium comprising BTG Pactual’s Timberland Investment Group, Canadian British Columbia Investment and APG on the acquisition of a large production forest in Chile

 Barros & Errázuriz has counselled a consortium formed by the Canadian British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, APG (on behalf of its pension fund client ABP) and BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group LLC, the latter as lead investor, on the execution of a master agreement between Vista Hermosa Inversiones Forestales SpA, a company controlled by BTG Pactual Inversiones Forestales Fondo de Inversión, and Forestal Arauco S.A., whereby the former undertook (for the members of the consortium) to purchase from the latter 461 forestry properties.

The signing of the master purchase agreement took place on 12 May, for a total consideration of $385,500,000 US dollars plus VAT. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including antitrust approvals, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. Jurisdictions involved Chile, the Netherlands and Canada.

The transaction comprises approximately 80,500 hectares of high-quality, sustainably managed timberlands, of which 61,742 hectares are productive, located in the central and southern regions of Chile, and will establish the consortium’s timberland presence in the country.

These forests have received the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) quality mark, which means that they contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and that their management takes into account the social and economic well-being of employees and local communities.

The acquisition supports the consortium’s strategy of investing in timber assets around the world that can achieve a compelling return on investment, while applying high standards of environmental and social governance, and will also make the consortium the third largest timber producer in Chile.

Barros & Errázuriz’s team was led by Cristián Barros Tocornal (pictured left) and Sergio Eguiguren Ebensperger (pictured right), who were assisted by Lucas Marinovic Carrasco, Juan Pablo Álvarez Holzapfel, Francisca Ossa Márquez, Juan Sebastián Alonso Iñíguez, José Tomás Ibáñez Varela, Paula Riquelme Brante, Pedro Pablo Ballivian Searle, Carola Trucco Horwitz, Fernanda Becker Magofke, Víctor Barros Echeverría, Juan Ignacio Galdámez Riquelme, Macarena Viertel Iñiguez, Javiera Riquelme Brante, Francisco Bórquez Electorat, María Fernanda Espinosa Meza and Santiago Gomez-Barris Montero. The firm Cariola Díez Pérez – Cotapos, advised Forestal Arauco S.A.