The Swedish Forest Owners Association “Sodra” will sell its lands in the Baltic countries, totaling 1,530 square kilometers, to Ingka Investments, associated with the IKEA furniture store chain.
The value of the deal is estimated at 720 million euros, reported Ingka Investments. Thus, it turns out that 1 square kilometer of territory is valued at 470,000 euros, and 1 square meter – at 47 cents.
This includes 1,350 square kilometers to be sold in Latvia and 180 square kilometers in Estonia. Approximately 89% of these lands consist of forested areas. To complete the transaction, approval from the relevant supervisory authorities in Latvia and Estonia is still required.
Ingka Investments promises to establish long-term cooperation with timber processing enterprises and wood panel manufacturers in the Baltic countries, facilitating local wood processing, creating skilled jobs, and strengthening local expertise, the company claims. What will actually happen will be shown by time.
It is worth noting that most of the forest areas put up for sale by “Sodra” were acquired in 2018 for 324 million euros. Until now, Ingka Investments owned 1,100 square kilometers of land in Latvia.
Ingka Investments is the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest operator of “IKEA” stores, which manages a total of more than 3,315 square kilometers of forest land.
Ingka Group operates in 31 countries and accounts for about 90% of the total retail sales turnover of “IKEA”. The group is owned by a charitable foundation.
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