The Molpus Woodlands Group, LLC (MWG), a timberland investment management organization headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, has acquired 165,000 +/- acres of timber rights located in Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa and Walker Counties in eastern Alabama for $87,750,000 from TC&I Timber Company, LLC, a wholly owned company of the United States Steel Corporation Plan for Employee Pension Benefits for a timber fund. The timber rights involve timberland that is located in the areas adjacent to the I-20/59 corridor between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. Molpus, Investek Timber Management, LLC and Salient Partners, L.P. serve as general partners of the fund. Molpus will also manage the property.

This purchase increases The Molpus Woodlands Group’s current acreage under management for clients to a total of over one million acres in the mid-South from Texas to Alabama.

“Timberlands have historically provided respectable returns with low volatility and risks,” says Molpus Woodlands Group President, Dick Molpus. “We are pleased with this acquisition. It should prove to be a key asset for the fund and we expect the returns for our investors to be solid.” Molpus expects this initial fund to be the first of a series of similar funds over the next few years.

The Molpus Company, an affiliated company of MWG, has been actively involved in the timber business since 1905. MWG and its sister operating company employ 106 people in their 12 offices located in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

MWG acquires, manages and sells timberland as an investment vehicle for pension funds, college endowments, foundations, insurance companies and high net-worth individual investors. The company focuses on ensuring long-term optimum cash returns on investments while practicing responsible forest stewardship.