Nomura acquires stake in forest manager

TOKYO—Nomura Holdings Inc. will acquire shares in New Forests Pty. Ltd., one of the world's leading forestry asset management companies, Nomura announced May 20.

With the deal, Nomura will own 41 percent of New Forests shares and Mitsui & Co. Ltd., which currently owns 22.98 percent of New Forests shares, will increase its shareholding to 49 percent.

New Forests is the world's second largest unlisted forestry asset management company in the world and the largest one in Asia-Pacific.

The Australian company has around $5.6 billion in assets under management across over 1.1 million hectares of investments, including rubber plantations.

As an asset manager, New Forests' stated vision is to "see investment in land use and forestry become central to the transition to a sustainable future."

Nomura said the acquisition will enable it to offer new asset classes of products to clients through its global platform, including wholly owned subsidiary Nomura Asset Management.

The Japanese fund will also gain industry knowledge and expertise in "forest resources and carbon credits, and will focus on creating related businesses globally to take advantage of growth opportunities."

The acquisition of the shares is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.