TORONTO — Sino-Forest Corporation (TSX:TRE), a Toronto-based tree plantation operator in China, says it has acquired another 30.3 per cent of Greenheart Resources Holdings Limited, a forestry company operating in South America.
The deal, valued at US$29 million, raises the company’s stake to 35.5 per cent in Greenheart.
Sin-Forest also has a 40 per cent fully diluted stake in Omnicorp Ltd., which controls Greenheart, a company located in Suriname, a small country on the northern coast of South America.
“Over 60 per cent of the world’s tree growing stock is hardwood, with approximately 45 per cent coming from Latin America, while Asia-Pacific is the world’s largest market for tropical hardwood logs,” said Allen Chan, Sino-Forest’s chairman and CEO said in a release Sunday.
At the same time, GGreenheart is one of the largest natural forest concession owners and operators in Suriname.
The company owns about 178,000 hectares of tropical hardwood concession and cutting rights, with a standing stock volume of 4.4 million cubic metres of wood.
Sino-Forest owns and manages forest plantation trees and sells standing timber, wood logs, and engineered-wood products in China.
Greenheart adheres strictly to the sustainable forestry management and silviculture systems developed by (The Centre for Agricultural Research in Suriname) which is practised by the Suriname government.
“We have every confidence that Greenheart will operate in a responsible and environmentally-friendly manner and we will provide our knowledge and expertise in sustainable forestry management best practices to assist in this regard as required.”