Hancock Timber Resource Group acquired 115,000 acres of timberland from Bowater Inc. for $104 million. The purchase includes 94,400 acres in central South Carolina and 20,600 acres in west central North Carolina, bringing Hancock’s North American holdings to 3.1 million acres.
Pension funds that invest in Hancock’s timber funds include: $147 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento; $45 billion SBC Communications Inc. pension fund, San Antonio, Texas; $9.7 billion Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii, Honolulu; $9.3 billion Alcoa Inc. pension fund, Pittsburgh; and the $8.5 billion defined benefit plan of United Parcel Service of America Inc., Atlanta.
