‘Where does Coillte deal stand?’: UK firm buying up Irish forests taken over by US investment company
Gresham House, which generated controversy with plans to buy up to €200 million of Irish farmland, has now been taken over by Searchlight Capital Partners
The British company which is planning to buy up to €200 million of Irish forestry land has been taken over by a US investment firm.
Gresham House, a London-based investment fund, agreed a deal last January with Coillte, the state forestry agency, to buy 30,000 acres of forestry land.
Coillte has agreed to source the land, plant trees on it and manage the forests in return for a management fee.
The deal generated a political backlash, with farmers alarmed that the arrival of Gresham House into the Irish market will drive up prices for agricultural and forestry land. It is the largest forestry investment manager in Britain.
