Black Oak Capital Partners

Black Oak Capital Partners will acquire and manage California agricultural lands for investor returns and land conservation outcomes. Black Oak pursues an "agriculture-plus" investment strategy. Black Oak will source and manage lands in partnership with land trusts, brokers, and farm managers. Agricultural cash flows and asset appreciation are primary value drivers, while exposure to new environmental markets provides additional upside. Environmental markets help to align financial and environmental objectives. Markets include mitigation banking, organic transition, water transfers, and conservation real estate development.

 

Chris Larson is the founder and Chief Investment Officer. He will complete his MBA at the Yale School of Management in May 2009, and plans to dedicate his full time to establishing Black Oak. Prior to Yale, Chris was the Executive Director of the Mattole Restoration Council, a non-profit watershed conservation and restoration organization based in Petrolia, CA. In this capacity, Chris raised over $16 million for conservation, restoration and land acquisition. His operating experience includes business development, capital raising, management of a professional staff of 25+, and managing all aspects of a $3.5 million business. Chris has a BS in Conservation Biology from Cornell University, and will receive his MBA in June 2009.

 

In the summer of 2008, Chris worked at Cambridge Associates, a leading investment consulting firm. He helped to launch the firm's mission-related investment initiative. He authored a report on mission-related investment opportunities in timber, agriculture, energy, commodities and real estate. Through this experience, and research at Yale, Chris has unique insight into the operations and strategies of all players within the timber and ecosystem service investment space. Cambridge Associates fostered a strong understanding of how to attract institutional investment capital.

 

Jim Rinehart[1] is a strategic advisor to Black Oak Capital Partners. In this capacity, Jim is a partner in developing the "agriculture-plus" investment strategy on behalf of a major university endowment and other clients. Jim has 25+ years of US and international experience as an institutional timberland investor, with significant transaction, project finance, portfolio construction and due diligence experience. He brings significant industry contacts that will be critical to sourcing and managing investments. He was the Director of Portfolio Strategy for Hancock Timber Resource Group, and VP of Timberland Investments for GATX Capital Corporation. Jim is a member of the Board of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, a 501(c)3 non-profit formed as part of the Softwood Lumber Agreement with Canada. He serves on the Board of Cascade Timberlands, which owns 300,000 acres of timberland in Eastern Oregon. In addition, he serves on the Advisory Board of the California Wildlife Conservation Board, responsible for distributing $315 Million of Proposition 84 funds committed to forest conservation. Jim holds a BS, an MBA and a Master of Forestry from UC Berkeley.

Black Oak

Robert Weldon is a strategic advisor to Black Oak. He is a land-use attorney and real estate broker based in Monterey County, CA, one of Black Oak's primary investment targets. He has worked with developers, property investors and agricultural interests in the region for over 25 years. Currently, he transacts approximately $15-20 million of residential, commercial and agricultural property annually through his brokerage firm, Weldon Realty and Land.

 

Advisor/Consultant Network: To facilitate a lean operation, Black Oak will retain a network of advisors and consultants in lieu of early hiring of transaction coordinators, land managers and domain experts.

Black Oak seeks or has secured consultants in the following areas: accounting/tax, legal (real estate), legal (conservation easements), legal (water rights), real estate brokerage representation, habitat restoration contractors, farm management firms, appraisers, and regulatory strategy. Black Oak has not finalized terms with these consultants, but will announce formal partnerships once finalized. Black Oak may outsource back-office and accounting functions for the first 24 months of operation.

 

Advisory board: In addition to paid consulting arrangements, Black Oak is creating a pro bono advisory board to offer independent advice. Regional and state conservation and economic development leaders will be on the advisory board to guide mission-related aspects. To date, Black Oak has identified three potential advisory board members who will provide critical environmental and economic development oversight. Two initial members are leaders within California land trust community. One is a Sacramento-based natural resource policy expert.

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[1] See http://investmentforestry.com/about%20us/james.htm.

Black Oak's strategy:

(1)          Source targeted properties at attractive valuations through conservation partners,

(2)          Manage properties for financial and environmental performance through asset repositioning, ecosystem service markets and crop optimization,

(3)          Monetize development value through conservation easements or limited development,

(4)          Exit stabilized properties to strategic buyers.

Black Oak's competitive advantage will be superior deal sourcing via conservation partnerships. Many of the firms in this space have not established meaningful "on-the-ground" relationships or expertise. Many operate out of New York City, Boston or London, where they have superior access to investors, but an inferior sense of local markets. Black Oak is disinclined to participate in auctions or bid on publicly listed properties.

 

Conservation finance is Black Oak's second major competitive advantage. Black Oak's founder has raised approximately $16 million of state and federal funding for land and water conservation projects. Black Oak maintains significant relationships with state and federal funding agencies, and understands the priorities of each of the 35-40 funding programs available in California for Black Oak's projects.