The properties are located primarily in Middle and South Georgia (approximately 95% of the acreage) as well as North Florida. These acquisitions—known as Oglethorpe and Satilla River—add 2.7 million tons of timber (48 tons per acre) to CatchMark's merchantable inventory, comprising 74% convertible pine upland by acreage and 49% saw timber by tons, and are expected to increase the company's annual harvest volumes over the next decade by 240,000 to 260,000 tons (4.3 to 4.7 tons per acre).
In acquiring approximately 100,000 acres of high quality timberlands to date in 2014, CatchMark has increased its total acreage by 36% above its 2013 holdings, boosting projected annual harvest volumes over the next decade by approximately 450,000 to 490,000 tons (4.5 to 4.9 tons per acre).
Jerry Barag, CatchMark's President and CEO, said: "CatchMark continues to focus on enhancing long-term value for our shareholders and providing durable earnings to grow our dividend by increasing harvest volumes and improving product mix. The Oglethorpe and Satilla acquisitions together with Waycross and Panola transactions completed in the late spring position us extremely well to take advantage of expected increasing demand for our products in the key U.S. fiber baskets."
CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. is a self-administered and self-managed publicly traded REIT that began operations in 2007 and owns interests in approximately 375,800 acres of timberland located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Texas.
