Molpus Woodlands Group Announces the Closing of 90,000 Acres in Michigan

Jackson, Mississippi – The Molpus Woodlands Group, LLC (Molpus), a timberland investment management organization headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, has announced today, on behalf of a client, the successful purchase of approximately 90,000 acres of timberland located in northern Michigan. 

The timberland, located in Baraga, Houghton, Iron, and Ontonagon Counties, Michigan, consists mainly of northern hardwoods such as maple, yellow birch, white spruce, and white pine.   Molpus currently maintains an office in Houghton, Michigan to oversee the management of approximately 67,000 acres in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is the first acquisition for Molpus’s third co-mingled fund.

“We are excited to add another property under Molpus’s management within the beautiful and timber-rich Upper Peninsula of Michigan,” says Molpus Woodlands Group President, Dick Molpus.  “The Ned Lake property has historically been well-managed and offers an excellent opportunity as a long-term, timber investment.  Our focus will be on maximizing the investment’s return, while practicing sustainable forestry and being good stewards of the land’s resources.”    

The fund, which closed in May of 2011 at approximately $439 million, is made up of U.S. and international investors, including corporate and public retirement systems, university endowments, foundations, and private investors.  This acquisition will increase the Molpus’s current acreage under management to over one million acres located in fifteen states.

The Molpus Woodlands Group, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor, was founded in 1996 as a Timber Investment Management Organization (TIMO) and has a company legacy dating back to 1905.  With its sister operating company, Molpus Timberlands Management, LLC (collectively, Molpus), Molpus is one of the oldest timber-related companies in the nation, with experience in all facets of timber management, manufacturing, and marketing.  Molpus is one of the few TIMOs that have all of their core businesses and forestry functions handled or supervised by in-house experts.

Molpus employs seventy-three people in its fourteen offices located in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, and Oklahoma.  Molpus acquires, manages, and sells timberland as an investment vehicle for pension funds, college endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and high net-worth individual investors. The company focuses on ensuring long-term optimum cash returns on investments while practicing responsible forest stewardship. For more information, visit http://www.molpus.com/.