Seeing the wood for the trees

Our forestry team has significant experience in a wide range of issues relevant to owners and operators of forest assets and associated businesses in New Zealand, and to prospective national and international forestry asset purchasers (including timber investment management organisations).

Our tax specialists are experts in the forestry specific provisions in New Zealand’s taxation legislation, and work with our commercial team and other advisers on transactions.  They assist clients with the development of commercially robust and tax-effective ownership structures, including monitoring proposals for legislative change affecting the taxation of forestry investment, applications for binding rulings and other necessary correspondence with the Inland Revenue Department.

Clients and services

We advise on:

  • Planning for the acquisition of forestry assets
  • Structuring investment in forestry, including the appropriate tax structure
  • Undertaking due diligence, including analysis of all forestry specific issues
  • Creation and sale of forestry rights
  • Resource management and environmental risks
  • Overseas investment
  • Maori claims
  • Preparing and negotiating sale and purchase agreements and ancillary commercial agreements, including forestry management agreements, log sale agreements, roading and access agreements, cartage agreements and harvesting and marketing agreements.
  • Debt or other funding arrangements.

Recent work

  • Advising Daiken and ITOCHU on their joint venture acquisition of Carter Holt Harvey's Rangiora MDF Plant and continuing wood supply contracts with CHH
  • Acting for a bidder for the Matariki forests
  • Acting for a bidder for the Nelson forests
  • Acting for a bidder for the Carter Holt Harvey forests
  • Advising Pacific Trees on Central North Island forest acquisitions
  • Advising Rayonier on the formation of a consortium (in conjunction with RREEF Infrastructure) which agreed to acquire 94,300 hectares of timberland from Carter Holt Harvey for $435m as well as continuing wood supply contracts with CHH, the sale of Rayonier's own timberland assets to the consortium and arrangements for Rayonier to manage the consortium's combined New Zealand assets
  • Acting for the purchaser on the acquisition of the Rotorua sawmill business from Carter Holt Harvey
  • Acting for CITIC in its participation in the Central North Island Forest Partnership, the receivership of the CNIFP and its participation in the subsequent receivership sales process, including extensive tax structuring
  • Acting for Crown Forestry Rental Trust on a range of forestry-related matters, and on the tax case concluded in the Trust’s favour in the Privy Council
  • Acting for Ngai Tahu in the acquisition of South Island forests from the Crown
  • Acting for Ngai Tahu in the renegotiation and redocumentation of forestry rights with Carter Holt Harvey and the disposal of certain forests
  • Drafting security documentation on security being taken over forestry rights and the revenue from forestry rights
  • Acting for a trustee of a forestry right, the shares of which were held as units in a unit trust
  • Acting for CITIC on log acquisition and trading operations in New Zealand
  • Acting for the banks providing finance for the acquisition of Matariki forests and other forest assets

Articles