One of Scotland’s largest ever rural land transactions has been completed with the £145 million acquisition of the Griffin Forestry Estate in Perthshire.
The 5,630-hectare estate, which includes the 39-turbine Griffin wind farm near Aberfeldy, was purchased on behalf of a fund managed by London-based asset manager Gresham House. The price exceeded the original £130m listing, underscoring the growing appetite for large-scale forestry and renewable energy assets.
Savills marketed the estate in two lots: the first comprising Griffin Forest, Ballinloan A Forest and the Griffin wind farm, listed at offers over £105m, and the second being the 1,389-hectare Moness Forest at offers over £25m.
The wind farm, operational since 2012, has a capacity of 2.3MW per turbine and plays a significant role in Scotland’s renewable energy generation. Its inclusion in the sale highlights the increasing convergence of forestry and energy investment strategies, as landowners and funds seek to balance natural capital with long-term financial returns.
Gresham House, which manages more than £8 billion in alternative assets, has been expanding its forestry and sustainable infrastructure portfolio. In a statement, the firm said: “Gresham House has a long track record in sustainable forestry management, delivering financial and environmental benefits. It directly supports the Scottish Government’s growth ambitions and the Climate Change Committee’s call to double tree planting over the next two decades.”
Scottish land ownership expert and former Green MSP Andy Wightman confirmed the transaction, recalling his own early career connection with the estate. “I have a personal connection with the forest as I planted much of it in my first job,” he wrote on his blog. He noted that the land, formerly part of the Grandtully Estate, was sold to the Midland Bank Pension Fund in 1980, before later being owned by Julia Hands, who oversaw the development of the wind farm, and subsequently gifted it to her husband, financier Guy Hands.
The sale is among the most expensive rural estate deals ever recorded in Scotland, reflecting both the heightened institutional demand for forestry as a hedge against inflation and carbon pricing, and the rising value of renewable assets. Analysts suggest that competition for large-scale landholdings will remain intense as investors position themselves for policy-driven growth in tree planting, biodiversity markets, and energy transition projects.
