It’s set up a new entity, Australian Bluegum Plantations, to manage the Timbercorp estate and says its priorities will be to implement fire protection plans, resume cultivation and maintenance programs and reactivate sales.

The New Hampshire-based company already has more 40,000 hectares of blue gums and pine trees in southern NSW, South Australia and Victoria.

It owns more than 500,000ha of forestry around the world valued at in excess of $2500 million.

Mark Korda, of liquidator KordaMentha, said there had been seven bids for Timbercorp’s assets.

He said APB’s $345 million bid included up to $198 million for investor growers.

Mr Korda said the liquidators would contact investor growers shortly about the process for reconciliations and individual payments.

The sale agreement was signed late yesterday after the Supreme Court extended the deadline for Timbercorp lease payment default action for another month.

Some leasehold default notices issued on July 1 fell due yesterday, September 30, and if money owned for the past three months had not been paid, leaseholders could have terminated their agreements.

The court decision prevents leaseholders from acting on lease terminations and gave any new owner of the estate until November 3 to make outstanding payments.

Timbercorp Landlords Forestry Group chairman Ian Ellis said most Timbercorp leaseholders he had spoken to supported having a replacement lessee rather than terminating their leases.

“Most want a resumption of the income stream rather than a termination of the lease and possession of the timber.”

GFP director of Asia Pacific investments, Michael Edgar, said under APB’s much simpler ownership structure with no managed investment scheme, the business had a sound foundation to grow.

“Through this transaction, the various parts of the business are brought together into a single ownership,” he said in a statement issued last night.

He said capital for the purchase came from global superannuation funds (including Australian funds), charitable foundations and other long-term institutional investors.