In December 2024 the Finnish company Leppämäki Yhteimestä sold its 5,833-hectare forest holding for 24,642,861 euros – a price of 4,225 euros per hectare. The buyer is ShelCo 307 Oy, which was founded last year and in January 2025 changed its name to Metso Silva Oy.
Metso Silva Oy is owned by MEAG, the asset management company of Munich Re AG, the world's largest German reinsurance company.
Hans-Joachim Seyfarth (Hans-Joachim Seyfarth), Head of Natural Capital in MEAG's Illiquid Assets division, emphasises: “Forestry investments, with their stable value and proven resilience in difficult times, are an ideal addition to a well-diversified portfolio for institutional investors. Finland is an attractive market for further investment; it is one of the few eurozone countries where forests can be acquired on attractive terms.”
The Finnish company Conifer Consulting Oy acted as the buyer's adviser in the transaction. Mikael Beck is chairman of the board of directors of both Conifer and Metso Silva; there are no ownership ties between Conifer and Metso Silva.
Mikael Beck noted that “Metso Silva's business idea is simply to buy forest and sell timber. Foreign institutions regard Finnish forests as an investment that retains its value and spreads risk well.” He also stresses that the forest land market has stabilised and that price levels have not been excessive. Metso Silva plans to make further forest acquisitions, but apart from the Leppämäki Yhteimestä forest no other deals have yet been concluded. The owner is interested in forest holdings worth at least ten million euros.
The Leppämäki Yhteimestä forests will change hands and come under the control of Conifer. According to Beck, forest management will not change significantly, except that these forests will obtain FSC certification.
Last winter the same German company acquired the forest holdings of UB Nordic Forest Fund II Ky for 166 million euros, covering roughly 33,000 hectares in total. In that transaction the price per hectare was 5,030 euros. MEAG's total forest holdings acquired in Finland now amount to 39,000 hectares.
The sustainability of the forest areas is also maintained through the third-party forest certification scheme PEFC. In addition, 5% of the area has been withdrawn from forestry use in order to focus solely on nature conservation aspects.
This investment forms part of MEAG's investment strategy of building well-diversified forestry portfolios for its clients in already stable forestry markets. By focusing on professionally managed investments in selected regions such as North America, Oceania and the Baltic Sea region, MEAG is able to offer its clients attractive risk and return prospects. Regional diversification is essential in order to mitigate potential risks such as timber price fluctuations or the effects of climate change.
MEAG focuses on alternative investments that deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns over the long term. Alongside the real estate, infrastructure, private equity and agricultural asset classes, forestry is an integral part of MEAG's global alternative investment strategy. MEAG has many years of experience not only in forestry and its associated financial aspects, but also in sustainable forest management. It draws on Munich Re's particular expertise in assessing natural hazards and the potential effects of climate change. All of these aspects are an integral part of the due diligence process and of ongoing management considerations.
MEAG is the asset manager of the Munich Re group. With offices in Europe, Asia and North America, MEAG also offers its expertise to institutional investors and private clients outside the group. MEAG currently manages assets worth around 354 billion euros, including 63 billion euros for private and other institutional investors.
The fact that a huge German asset manager is acquiring large forest areas in Finland, which borders the Russian Federation, refutes speculation about the supposed “real reasons” for Sodra's forest sales in Latvia – fear of a possible geopolitical threat in the Baltic Sea region.