United Bankers is launching a private equity fund investing in forest and bio-based industries. The fund, named UB Forest Industry Green Growth Fund (UB FIGG), has secured commitments of €100 million from anchor investors such as Finnish state-owned investment company Tesi, Finnish pension insurance companies Veritas and Elo, as well as Finnish Broadcasting Corporation’s Pension Fund and Sandvik Pension Fund.

The private equity fund seeks to invest in companies that develop and offer replacements for plastic and other fossil fuel-based materials and engage in more efficient use of wood and agricultural raw material side streams – i.e. “waste.” UB FIGG’s investments are meant to help the forest and bio-based industries create solutions that mitigate climate change. The forest industry has witnessed a rapid development of new products based on raw material side streams that complement the more traditional products from pulp, paper, and wood.

“We are very proud of being able to build a unique private equity fund…”

UB FIGG is a closed-end private equity fund with a ten-year term, targeting investor commitments of €300 million. Matti Lehtipuu, Sakari Saarela, David Walker and Rainer Häggblom are responsible for the portfolio management and investment operations of UB FIGG. “We are very proud of being able to build a unique private equity fund and hire a world-class team to execute a strategy we strongly believe in,” comments Matti Lehtipuu, Managing Partner of UB FIGG. “We are excited to help develop the forest and bio-based business opportunities in our region.”

”We are very pleased to have raised United Bankers’ first industrial private equity fund,” says Timo Ronkainen, Head of Institutional Asset Management of United Bankers. The private equity fund will complement United Bankers’ product suite of alternative investments by relying on its strong competence in forestry investing, according to Ronkainen. “This Fund is our first spearhead product in private equity.”