The Swedish forest owners’ association Södra will sell its Baltic land holdings — a total of 153,000 hectares — for €720 million to Ingka Investments, a company affiliated with IKEA, Ingka Investments announced.
Of this, 135,000 hectares are located in Latvia and 18,000 hectares in Estonia, with approximately 89% of the land consisting of forest.
The transaction still requires approval from the relevant regulatory authorities in both Latvia and Estonia.
According to the company, Ingka Investments plans to establish long-term cooperation with Baltic timber processing and board-manufacturing companies, promoting local wood processing, creating skilled jobs, and strengthening regional expertise.
Södra’s president and CEO Lotta Lyrå said the sale would allow the organization to focus more on increasing the value of its members’ forests, thereby strengthening long-term competitiveness.
Meanwhile, Ingka Investments CEO Peter van der Poel stated that the acquisition represents a long-term commitment to sustainable forestry in the Baltic states: “It is in our interest to manage forests responsibly and over the long term, preserving and improving their health while ensuring the continued availability of this renewable resource for furniture production and other purposes,” he said.
Nick Shauwa, head of Ingka Investments’ forestry operations in Latvia, added that
the acquisition would make the company the largest private forest manager in Latvia.
“Until now, we have worked closely with local wood processors and forestry service providers — such as reforestation teams, logging companies, forest inventory specialists, and others. We plan to expand this cooperation, further developing local forest management and wood processing in Latvia,” he noted.
According to the company, Ingka Investments Latvia reported a turnover of €11.9 million in fiscal year 2025.
The company planted more than 2.5 million seedlings over the year, and together with natural regeneration, this ensured a net forest growth exceeding 250,000 cubic meters.
Currently, 21% of Ingka’s forests in Latvia are managed with a strong focus on conservation and environmental goals, including nearly 3,000 hectares where commercial activity has been completely excluded.
At the beginning of this year,
Ingka Investments allocated 16,000 hectares — roughly 15% of its Latvian holdings — to a research project
conducted by the European Forest Institute and Preferred by Nature.
The project tests new, nature-friendly forestry practices that reduce impacts on biodiversity, with the goal of implementing proven sustainable methods across all of Ingka’s forests.
In collaboration with the Latvian State Forestry Research Institute “Silava”, the company is also conducting research on technologies to preserve biodiversity in conventional commercial hemiboreal forests, studying which management methods most effectively maintain ecological diversity.
LETA previously reported that most of Södra’s Baltic forestlands, now being sold, were acquired in 2018 for €324 million.
In January 2024, Södra announced plans to sell its forest assets and related business operations in the Baltic states.
According to Kristaps Klauss, Vice President of the Latvian Forest Industry Federation (LKF),
Södra had offered for sale approximately 2% of Latvia’s total forest area.
Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze (ZZS) previously stressed that Latvia should use this opportunity to purchase the offered forests, calling it a matter of national and economic security. He suggested exploring financial instruments — such as pension funds — to facilitate state or domestic investment in the purchase.
However, in May, the minister announced that Latvia could no longer submit an offer for Södra’s Latvian forests because, during discussions with Latvijas Valsts Meži (LVM), the company refused to extend the proposal deadline.
Krauze explained that LVM had been in communication with the group regarding a potential acquisition, but any purchase by the state would have required a government decision. LVM therefore asked Södra for more time to submit an offer, but the request was denied, preventing Latvia from proceeding.
Prior to this deal, Ingka Investments already owned 110,000 hectares of land in Latvia.
Globally, Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group — IKEA’s largest retail operator — manages over 331,500 hectares of forestland.
Ingka Group operates in 31 countries and
generates about 90% of IKEA’s total retail turnover.
The group is owned by a charitable foundation.
Ingka Group does not operate retail stores in the Baltic states — IKEA stores in the region are managed by Inter IKEA Group.
Ingka Investments Latvia, whose financial year runs from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2024, posted a turnover of €9.566 million and a profit of €1.762 million.
The company is owned by Ingka Investments Sustainable Resources, registered in the Netherlands.
Södra’s Latvian subsidiary, SIA “Södra Forest Latvia”, which specializes in forestry and logging, recorded a turnover of €5.361 million in 2024 — a 37.9% increase compared to the previous year — and achieved a profit of €12,074, reversing previous losses, according to data from Firmas.lv.
The company, established in 2003, has a share capital of €106.026 million and is wholly owned by Södra Skogsägarna ekonomisk förening of Sweden.
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