HONG KONG, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Greenheart Group Limited ("Greenheart" or "the Company") (HKSE: 00094), an investment holding company with forestry assets in Suriname, South America and New Zealand, today announced the signing of a US$6 million secured loan agreement ("the Loan Agreement") to Suma Lumber Company N.V. ("SUMA"), a company registered in Suriname. SUMA is a Forest Stewardship Council ("FSC") certified concession holder and owns the concession and harvesting rights to approximately 91,750 hectares of tropical hardwood forest in Central Suriname. Pursuant to the Loan Agreement, SUMA shall enter into agreements for the lease of two sawmill factories with certain equipment, and grant exclusive rights to Greenheart to harvest, transport, process and sell logs and timber from SUMA's concessions (together with the Loan Agreement, the "Agreements"). The Agreements are in line with Greenheart's stated commitment to growing in Suriname and increases Greenheart's total concessions under management in Suriname to approximately 403,750 hectares.
SUMA is one of the largest forest concession holders in Suriname and is FSC certified for its sustainable and responsible operations. Suma owns and operates two sawmill factories, has established infrastructure and an existing operating team. Located in Central Suriname and with transport routes by both road and barge to major port facilities, SUMA already exports its own processed lumber to Europe. With the new harvesting right to SUMA's concessions, Greenheart will manage and operate forestry concessions in East, West and Central Suriname.
Mr. Andrew Fyfe, Chief Operating Officer of Greenheart, said, "The Agreements are important to Greenheart as we strengthen our Suriname strategy by increasing our concessions under management in Suriname to over 400,000 hectares. This will enable operational, financial, sales & marketing and administrative synergies with our other operations in East and West Suriname. Most importantly, SUMA is an existing operation and holds FSC certification, a goal we aim to achieve for all of our operations in Suriname as part of our sustainable development strategy."
About Greenheart Group Limited
Greenheart Group Limited is a Hong Kong-based investment holding company. The principal activities of the Company's subsidiaries consist of responsible and sustainable log harvesting, lumber processing and sales and marketing of logs and lumber products to China and other countries around the world. As a result of the Agreements, the Company will own certain rights to manage approximately 403,750 hectares of hardwood forest concessions in Suriname, South America and owns approximately 13,000 hectares of freehold land with a net harvestable plantation area of approximately 11,000 hectares in New Zealand. The Company is majority-owned by Sino-Forest Corporation, a leading, commercial forest plantation operator in China and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:TRE). Learn more at www.greenheartgroup.com.
Please note: This press release may contain projections and forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Company and/or its subsidiaries and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and company plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but not limited to, changes in China and international economies; changes in currency exchange rates; changes in worldwide demand for the Company's products; changes in worldwide production and production capacity in the forest products industry; competitive pricing pressures for the Company's products and changes in wood and timber costs.
