Ingka Group expands investments in U.S. forestry - IKEA — ikea.com

Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities) has made a new acquisition of approximately 17,000 acres of forestland in the US. The new property is located in South Carolina across the counties of Williamsburg, Clarendon and Georgetown. With this new investment, the Ingka forestry portfolio in the US has reached 64,000 acres, including additional locations in Alabama (25,000 acres) and Texas (22,000 acres). “This new acquisition marks a strong foundation for us to invest in the lower coastal plain of South Carolina, where the forestland offers both quality wood and good regeneration capacities”, says Krister Mattsson, Managing Director Ingka Investments. “We are actively looking to increase our portfolio in the US, as we see a good match between what the market has to offer and our high standards related to responsible forest management.”Ingka Group is committed to having a positive impact on people and the planet. The company’s high forestry management standards mandates that more trees are planted than harvested. In February, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) awarded certification for responsible forest management of the properties Ingka owns in the US.Since 2014, Ingka Group has bought forest land in various parts of the world and owns around 210,000 hectares of responsibly managed forest land in the United States and Europe in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Romania. By investing in forestry, as well as in companies that are active in recycling, renewable energy development and biomaterial developments, Ingka Group is supporting a circular economy and the long-term supply of sustainable materials.This new acquisition is the latest in a series of significant investments the Ingka Group has made in the U.S., where they currently operate 50 IKEA stores, 10 distribution and customer fulfilment centers, and one IKEA Planning Studio, which opened in Manhattan in April. In 2017, Ingka Group also acquired San Francisco-based TaskRabbit, an innovative on-demand services platform company, to provide IKEA customers with additional ways to access flexible and affordable service solutions. Additionally, the company has made minority investments in the brand’s preferred kitchen installers Traemand, XL Hybrids, and AeroFarms, all of whom share the brand’s values and ongoing commitment to supporting sustainable resources. For more information, contact IKEA U.S. Press Office at press.us@ikea.com.Read more about Ingka Group’s sustainability performance and commitments in the Annual & Sustainability Summary report: https://www.ingka.com/about-us/annual-and-sustainability-summary-reports/ Read more about sustainability performance across the IKEA value chain and franchise system in the IKEA Sustainability Report FY18: https://newsroom.inter.ikea.com/publications About the Ingka Group Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities) is one of 11 different groups of companies that own and operate IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Ingka Group has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centers. Ingka Group, formerly IKEA Group, is a strategic partner and the largest IKEA retailer, owning and operating 367 IKEA stores and digital touchpoints in 30 markets, with 160 000 co-workers. These IKEA stores had 830 million visits last year and 2.35 billion visits www.IKEA.com. The name Ingka is based on its founder’s name, Ingvar Kamprad.

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