In late January, networks and newspapers from coast to coast began to broadcast the breaking story of the largest land sale in decades: Liberty Media chairman John Malone had acquired more than 1 million acres of timberland in Maine and neighboring New Hampshire from GMO Renewables. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction immediately vaulted Malone from the No. 5 position to the top of the Land Report 100 with a total of 2.2 million acres. Malone displaces his good friend and fellow cable magnate Ted Turner as the nation’s leading private landowner.

Cable Cowboy

In the cable industry and on Wall Street, Liberty Media’s chairman enjoys a sterling reputation as a keen dealmaker. His hometown newspaper, The Denver Post, described him as having “few equals when it comes to structuring complex, hardball financial deals.” Given the multitude of investment options at his disposal, why did the so-called Cable Cowboy invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Maine timberland?

To begin with, Malone already had well-established ties to the Pine Tree State. Gary Bahlkow in LandVest’s Portland office has worked with the Malones on a variety of timberland investment projects over the past 15 years. While not on the market, LandVest’s timberland experts had identified the GMO Renewables property as a prime target during due diligence.

GMO Renewable Resources

Founded in 1997, GMO Renewable Resources specializes in investments tied to forestry and agriculture. Led by founder Eva Greger, GMO manages sustainable investments in hardwood and softwood forests as well as direct investments in rural land, crop, and livestock assets.

“We knew GMO had created value by building a very user-friendly property,” Bahlkow says. “They had fresh and very credible inventory data to audit and project forest growth models from. Another consideration was that GMO had worked the operational kinks out of the long-term fiber supply agreement with two IP [International Paper] mills now owned by Verso. First-class forest management on a sustainable basis was essential to John Malone. GMO worked in good faith to make certain that was part of the package.”

USER-FRIENDLY. A pre-existing fiber-supply agreement was essential to the sale.