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NZ's Matariki taps First NZ/Credit Suisse for sale

Tue Sep 9, 2008 10:41pm EDT

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WELLINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - New Zealand timber joint venture Matariki Forests Ltd said on Wednesday it had appointed First NZ Capital and Credit Suisse to handle the sale of its assets.

U.S. forest group Rayonier (RYN.N) has a 40 percent stake in the consortium and manages Matariki's 140,000 hectare (343,000 acre) estate, which is the third largest estate in New Zealand.

"The market is turning and providing favourable conditions for potential buyers from around the globe and we anticipate there will be considerable interest in Matariki Forests," Rayonier NZ managing director Paul Nicholls said in a statement.

The other partners in the consortium are funds managed by AMP Capital Investors and clients of a Deutsche Bank fund.

A sale, which might be worth more than NZ$1 billion ($670 million), is expected to be completed sometime next year.

The estate of mainly radiata pine forests is scattered throughout the country, with around two thirds of production going to local processors and the rest exports.

The last major forest sale in New Zealand was in December 2006 when Carter Holt Harvey Ltd sold around 200,000 hectares to U.S. based Hancock Timber Resource Group, a deal valued at close to NZ$1.6 billion. ($1=NZ$1.50) (Reporting by Gyles Beckford)



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