$US1.1bn timberland fund raised
29 Mar 2025 - New funds and fundraising
Sydney-founded private capital firm Stafford Capital Partners has raised an above target $US1.1 billion ($1.75 billion) for one of the largest timberland funds to date.
Stafford, which is now based in London but retains a team in Sydney, raised direct investment of $US1.04 billion for Stafford International Timberland Fund X (SIT X). The fundraising also attracted a further $US100 million in co-investment commitments.
SIT X is continuing the firm’s focus on secondary timberland investing.
In an interview with Reuters, Stafford chief executive Angus Whiteley said the secondaries strategy was able to achieve annual returns of around 8% compared with 5%-6% for primary timber funds.
Whitely said a limited number of investors were targeting the secondary timberland market so when Stafford engaged with a motivated seller it was usually able to negotiate a reasonable discount.
He said increased returns had attracted additional money into the asset class which institutional investors, especially in Europe, recognised as a climate-friendly way to diversify their holdings.
Close to 75% of the 13 institutions that had committed to the new fund had invested in the predecessor fund, SIT IX, which raised $US695 million in 2021. Most of these investors were pension schemes but an insurance company and an investment trust were included.
Investors from the UK committed 48%, Germany 23%, South Korea 19%, and North America 10%.
Stafford ITF X has already committed $US330 million across five investments comprising a total of about a million hectares and a further $US140 million deal was expected to be completed soon, Whiteley said.
Across its international timberland portfolio, Stafford has stakes in 127 assets comprising 2.6 million hectares of forest which are estimated to be sequestering around 16 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year.
In addition to timberland, Stafford invests in infrastructure, agriculture and food and sustainable private equity through primary, secondary and co-investment strategies.