Forestry & Natural Resources

Forestry & Natural Resources

Forest and other natural resources increase in importance as the world moves towards a zero-carbon economy. Minerals and metals are needed for the battery industry, for renewable energy installations and for updating our infrastructure. Wood is at the core of many innovative techniques and products that open up opportunities for sustainable consumption, and forests are also essential as carbon sinks. The key is to create more value from less resources. Companies need to innovate and streamline to meet intensifying competition. This will lead to cooperation and mergers at every level of the value chain.

Naturally, the legal services used by forest and natural resources companies also have to keep up. Strategic mergers and the protection, commercialisation and defence of intellectual property rights are taking centre stage alongside environmental and other regulatory issues. We can provide you with leading experts from every field of law.

Latest references

We advised Metsä Board Corporation on the issuance of senior unsecured green notes of EUR 200 million. The maturity of the notes is six years, and they mature on 28 May 2031.  The notes carry fixed annual interest of 3.875 per cent., and the issue price of the notes is 99.570 per cent. The notes were allocated to both Finnish and foreign investors. ‘We are delighted with the trust and interest shown by investors in Metsä Board’s first green bond. This arrangement extends the maturity of our financing and supports our strategy to grow in fibre-based packaging materials and renew our industrial operations. It also contributes to the achievement of our ambitious sustainability targets for 2030’, comments Henri Sederholm, CFO of Metsä Board. Danske Bank A/S and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) acted as joint lead managers for the issue of the Notes.
Case published 27.5.2025
We advised KoBold Metals on the Finnish legal and tax aspects related to its earn-in agreement with Aurion Resources. Under the agreement, KoBold (through its wholly owned subsidiary KoBold Exploration Finland Oy) can earn an undivided 75% interest in commodities discovered (other than any discoveries that are predominantly gold or silver), by incurring USD 12 million in exploration expenditures on or before the fifth anniversary of the date of signing the agreement. The exploration area covers approximately 35 km2 in Aurion’s 100% owned 160 km2 Risti Property in Sodankylä, Finland Following satisfaction by KoBold of the earn-in requirements, a joint venture will be established with KoBold owning 75% and Aurion 25%. KoBold Metals Company is a US-based exploration and mining company, supported by high profile investors such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and Equinor. It combines expertise in geosciences with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science to improve and accelerate the exploration process in search of the critical minerals necessary for the global energy transition.
Case published 26.3.2025
We advised Metsäliitto Cooperative in relation to a new EUR 200 million sustainability-linked revolving credit facility with a syndicate of eight banks. This new credit facility refinances the existing EUR 200 million facility signed in December 2018 and will be used for general corporate purposes. The facility has a tenor of five years and includes two one-year extension options. The pricing mechanism of the revolving credit facility is linked to two of Metsä Group’s ambitious sustainability targets: Target 1: Zero tonnes of fossil carbon dioxide emissions, Scope 1 and 2, by 2030. Target 2: Share of certified wood in wood supply 100% by 2030. ‘Incorporating sustainability criteria into our financing further demonstrates the company’s strong commitment to actions that reduce our carbon footprint and mitigate climate change,’ says Vesa-Pekka Takala, EVP, CFO of Metsä Group.
Case published 16.1.2025
We acted as the Finnish legal advisor for BHP in connection with an exploration alliance agreement entered into between BHP and Kingsrose Mining Limited under which BHP (through a wholly owned subsidiary) will provide funding for regional mineral exploration across areas of interest in Finland. As part of the arrangement announced on 22 May 2024, BHP and Kingsrose entered into two exploration alliance agreements, focusing on nickel and copper exploration in specified regions in Finland and Norway. In Finland, the alliance agreement covers Kingsrose’s four exploration reservations at the Central Finland project in the Kotalahti Nickel Belt, a 400 kilometre long greenstone belt which hosts the past producing Hitura, Kotalahti and Enonkoski nickel mines. The alliances follow from Kingsrose’s successful participation in the BHP Xplor program, a global accelerator program targeting innovative, early-stage mineral exploration companies to find the critical resources necessary to drive the energy transition. BHP is the largest mining company in the world by market capitalisation, producing essential commodities through its assets, including iron ore, metallurgical coal, copper and nickel, and moving into potash.
Case published 4.7.2024