CatchMark Timber Trust forms JV with MPERS

CatchMark Timber Trust has formed a joint venture with the Missouri Department of Transportation & Patrol Employees’ Retirement System to acquire 11,031 acres of high-quality timberlands in North Georgia, known as the Dawsonville Package.

Under terms of the 50-50 joint venture with MPERS, CatchMark will be the fiduciary for the public pension fund’s investment and will manage the timberlands.

The timberlands acquired in the Dawsonville Package border the Chattahoochee National Forest and are located within 90 miles of both Atlanta and Chattanooga. Heavily stocked at an average of 51 tons of merchantable timber per acre, the timberlands are 75 percent pine with 41 percent sawtimber.

The acquisition marks CatchMark’s first transaction with an institutional partner. CatchMark is a publicly traded REIT that manages approximately 500,000 acres of commercial timberlands located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.