[Georgia] Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP represented Resource Management Service LLC (RMS), Forest Investment Associates (FIA), and other investors that are part of a consortium of buyers led by RMS, in their purchase of International Paper timberland holdings, a deal which closed Friday. The $5 billion transaction is considered the largest private timberland sale in U.S. history. Under the agreement, International Paper has sold 3.8 million acres of mostly southern forestland to the investor group for approximately $5 billion in cash and notes at closing. RMS, based in Birmingham, and FIA, based in Atlanta, are timberland investment firms specializing in land management on behalf of individual and institutional investors. Approximately 300,000 acres of the timberlands are in Georgia. The remainder are located in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Virginia and Michigan.

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