Appraisal of a 500k hectare forestry company. West Africa.

Recent project is a collaboration in a $20M fundraising for a leader forestry company in Ghana & Gabon. We did an important assessment, including a due diligence of financials, liabilities, workforce, management…

 

Sawmills are especially focused on plywood and veneer, with a very good outcome which allows company a good presence in the European markets.

 

Machinery was also inside our approach.

 

Given that it was about a fundraising, assets value, and management appraisal, played an important role in our task.

 

Africa has a lot of challenges, but also a lot of opportunities to get amazing value returns, just you have to know where to look at.

Trading biomass worldwide

As a founder of Biomass Global Management, we trade biomass around the world. We buy/sell from Euca wood logs…

 

FSC certified pine…

 

And  wood chips and pellets

Design of a $6o million investment project in Cameroon

We designed a $60 million investment project based on FSC certified high quality cocoa production. The project was promoted by local relevant people, interested to revitalize some poor areas, and in our expertise for bringing up new methodologies to produce cocoa under new plantation parameters.

Nowadays project is being negotiated to be funding by some local investors. Expected IRR is 20,02%. Return is $314 millions. Project life, 20 years.

IPO of the first listed Agroforestry company in Spanish stock market

I managed the first agroforestry investment company to going public in the Barcelona Stock market. I was leading the company from 2005 to 2010, succeeding as a listed company in June 2009.

We took care by ourselves about all the matters, documentation & financials,  and we dealt the issues in front the surveillance authorities. It took 5 months of intensive job, but it was worth it. Starting price was 1,25€, and in the first session stock rise to 1,40€

 

Designing forestry investments in Uruguay

We treated with Afap’s (local pension funds) in Uruguay to build for them a few forestry investment options. It includes the design of greenfield projects…

 

… and assessment of existing projects that could be acquired, as walnut plantations, and citrus fruits exporters factory.

Hevea fund project. DR. Congo

All my team was involved in a Luxembourg Fund project, aimed to transform thousands of redundant Hevea trees (rubber trees) into biomass, and transform plantations to an intensive bamboo production. It meant 5 millions tons to be transformed into pellets and briquettes, from 6 different sites, which meant 5000 hectares in West DR. Congo. We designed a  five years forestry job, for 8 years Fund life. Expected IRR 20% per year.

It was necessary we prepare a brochure to help in the fundraising process. We did an interesting appraisal regarding workforce, infrastructures, and social impact in a Country which hold the world’s penultimate position about human development.

Fund intention was to divide project into two different funds, one for rubber biomass, and the another one for bamboo plantations.

Some trees were timber so we see this possibility in our projections.

I have to say it was a very hard assignment, especially because the challenges that come up in a broken country immersed in a civil  war for long time, however, we found some time to play Karate with kids.

Plant production

From the beginning, I was always convinced that to have the best plants was a must if we want to build the best plantations. I always try to produce our own plant, and in this sense I have pushed to set up own in vitro laboratories, and nurseries …

Own in vitro lab in Spain

Base in vitro germ material

…. and I have looked for scientific research partners worldwide. Here below it is me negotiating co-research partnership in Uruguay.

Negotiation co-researching in Uruguay

Subtropical Forestry Investment Project

Always involved in assessments regarding forestry investments. I worked the appraisal of a 80.000 hectares FSC certified forestry group in Northwest Argentina, and Southern Bolivia, in order to be acquired by a Spanish forestry investment group.  It included a full due diligence of a multinational forestry company, who had its base in Delaware, US, with some interesting pending legal issues there. I dealt all negotiations with owner,  and set all matters of the purchase agreement.

Company had its own sawmills and dryers handled by Bolivian and Argentinean employees, which meant an important issue to ensure change capacity to face the new management approaches. However, in addition to clearing legal issues, the most important challenge was to check project feasibility, considering long distances to loading ports from operational sites, and deficient infrastructures along the country.

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Leading forestry projects, organic certified agricultural projects, and scientific research in Patagonia.

I boosted some of the most interesting projects ever made in Patagonia, from river valley areas to arid soils. I led from forestry projects to organic nuts production, leading scientific research to introduce & produce tropical biofuels, and biomass under Patagonian conditions.

Certified organic nuts production in Patagonia

Walnut plantation

Organic nuts production

 

Testing with Jatropha clones, and building natural defenses to protect crops from wind.

 

Introducing vineyard, cherry trees, olive trees, and other interesting crops in Patagonia desert.

 

And building waterways (20km) to ensure crops in sometimes very hard circumstances…

 

Dogs also come with us, and they work too 😉

Developing tree plantations around

Setting up tree plantations everywhere, from Southern Europe to South America. From 40 ha. to 10.000 hectares.

 

Facing all sort of challenges; windy areas, desert soils, sloping ground…