DANA Limited is a New Zealand company based in Rotorua which was formed in 1993 by Dennis Neilson, after a career spanning the full gamut of forestry activities with Fletcher Challenge from 1972 to 1992.
DANA focusses on the following specialist areas:
Consulting to International Clients on:
- International plantation investment issues and opportunities;
- International wood marketing issues;
- A number of forestry appraisal issues;
- Arranging and visiting native and plantation forestry, processing and end-use operations around the world with clients;
- Specialist forest financing vehicles and introducing funding lines and opportunities;
- Identifying and arranging international client contacts over a wide range of forestry and wood product and financing activities;
- Identifying and building teams to be able to manage multi-discipline advisory assignments.
Writing, Co-writing and/or Publishing Multi-client Reports on:
- International Woodfiber Trade;
- International Timberland ownership and investment;
- International tree farm economics.
Providing Specialist Independent Expert Witness Services for:
- A wide range of forest industry issues in a number of countries.
Organising or Co-organising Conferences on:
- Timberland investment and forestry related issues.
Dennis Neilson
Dennis is experienced in managing land acquisition, establishment, forest management, harvesting, log transport, shipping, log and woodchip export sales and marketing forest financing and strategic planning, enabled Dennis to quickly establish a forest industry consulting business covering a number of fields.
Since then Dennis has founded or co-founded a number of commercial companies (including a TIMO - Tree Farm Finance Limited - which was later sold to US giant GMO), a number of forest owning companies, an international financial advisory company, a number of major international multi-client report entities (including three which were sold to USA based RISI in 2006-2013 - with Dennis still actively involved in preparing updated editions of all three publications).
Having previously managed a large number of staff (up to 600) Dennis decided to keep DANA very small, but instead to develop relationships with a very large group of trusted international formal and informal business partners, associates, consultants and financial experts. In 20 years he has developed a unique global data and relationship base of hundreds of specialist forestry technical, commercial, wood product marketing, legal, accounting and financing/funding associates. For instance he personally knows the principals of more than 20 specialist forestry appraisal/valuation firms around the world, and can recommend their particular strengths for assignments on individual projects; or to assemble a specialist team to undertake projects directly.
In addition Dennis has excellent financial/funding links into other natural resource industry financing, including mining.
In 20 years Dennis has authored/co-authored/published more than 50 multi-client Reviews and has made more than 130 presentations at international conferences on a variety of topics.