Foresight Natural Capital (FNC), a UK-focused natural capital investment strategy, has completed the successful sale of Banc Woodland, an early-stage forest in Carmarthenshire.
It said the transaction, completed through a competitive sales process, marked a “highly profitable milestone for the strategy and provides clear evidence of the commercial viability of Foresight’s afforestation model as a nature-based investment opportunity”.
The transaction delivered a multiple on invested capital (MOIC) of 1.8x and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 15.5% over a 4.75-year holding period. The package included the associated 16,550 Woodland Carbon Code units.
Banc Woodland was acquired in 2021 and planted in 2022, turning marginally economic grazing land into a productive forest asset. The property has achieved exceptional early-stage growth, said FNC, with tree development and carbon sequestration performance exceeding expectations. This outcome highlights FNC’s ability to generate value through proactive land transformation and ecosystem service monetisation, it said.
Robert Guest, Managing Director & Co-Lead of Foresight Natural Capital, said:
“Banc sits at the front of our pipeline of woodland creation assets. We’ve seen strong competitive interest in the sale, allowing us to crystallise development value for our investors ahead of schedule. The impressive tree growth rates achieved within just three years are reflected in the value per hectare. We’re also pleased to see increasing price recognition for our Woodland Carbon Code units, reflecting growing market confidence in the scheme’s credibility and the value of sequestration projects. Thank you to all involved.”
FNC’s broader afforestation strategy aims to plant approximately 12 million trees in total across 54 properties, representing nearly half of all UK afforestation that was carried out in the past year. The strategy is designed to deliver long-term timber supply, permanent carbon removal, and to protect and enhance biodiversity across the portfolio.
Richard Kelly, Managing Director & Co-Lead of Foresight Natural Capital, added:
“This is an important milestone for Foresight Natural Capital. It validates our proactive development business model and demonstrates that we can achieve strong returns, even in a high interest rate environment, whilst in parallel making a direct contribution to the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss as part of a Just Transition. With the UK’s structural timber supply shortage and rising demand for high-integrity carbon credits, we are excited to build on this first successful exit.”
The capital released from the Banc sale will be recycled into the next wave of woodland creation.
Goldcrest Land and Forestry Group acted as sales agent and Farrer & Co acted as legal advisers to Foresight. Tilhill Forestry led project delivery, working with EJD Forestry and Foresight, and will have an ongoing role under the new ownership.
