Ingka Investments to Acquire 153,000 Hectares in Latvia and Estonia From Södra

On Monday, Ingka Investments—the investment arm of Ingka Group, the world’s largest IKEA retailer—said it agreed to acquire about 153,000 hectares (378,000 acres) of land in Latvia and Estonia, 89% of which is forestland, from Sweden’s Södra. Completion is subject to regulatory approvals.

As a foundation-owned retailer operating in 31 markets and representing 87% of global IKEA sales, Ingka Group reinvests profits, enabling self-funded, long-term investments. Rather than a focus on mainly exporting timber and short-term returns, Ingka Investments said it plans to partner with Baltic sawmills and panel producers to process wood regionally.

Ingka Investments currently owns 331,000 hectares (818,000 acres) in seven countries. In financial year 2025, its forestland teams employed about 190 co-workers and supported thousands of additional jobs via local contractors. The company planted 14 million seedlings, contributing to overall forest expansion and an estimated net growth of 500,000 m³ annually. Twenty-two percent of its forests are managed with conservation priorities first.

Earlier this year, Ingka Investments allocated 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) of its Latvian forests for applied research with the European Forest Institute and Preferred by Nature, trialing closer-to-nature and continuous-cover forestry for wider scaling.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Ingka Investments Managing Director Peter van der Poel said:

“We firmly believe that responsible forest management delivers both environmental and economic success. It’s in our interest to manage our forests for the long-term, preserving and improving their health, while providing this renewable resource for furniture and other uses. Our goal is to ensure that this vital resource remains forests forever.”