The binderholz Group intends to take over BSW Timber Ltd., the largest forestry and sawmill company in Great Britain. An agreement has already been reached with the majority owner, Endless LLP, on the acquisition of shares. Subject to the approval of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority and the British Financial Conduct Authority, the takeover is to be completed before the end of this year. The brand name BSW will be retained after integration into the binderholz Group and the current management will continue to lead the company.
With the acquisition of BSW, binderholz will become the largest company in the sawmill and solid wood processing industry in Europe with around 5,000 employees at 29 locations in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Latvia, Finland and the USA. This step strengthens binderholz’s positioning in the growing British market which is characterised by high demand for sawn timber, solid wood, timber construction and DIY products. The Green Economy ideal is being actively lived in Great Britain, which has been reflected in the constant growth rates in CO2-neutral timber construction over the years.
BSW was founded in 1848 in Earlston, Scotland and has a production capacity of over 1.2 million cubic meters of sawn timber per year. The company, which employs around 2,000 employees, operates seven sawmill sites in the UK, one sawmill site in Latvia and seven other production sites in the UK. BSW is active along the entire value chain of the sawmill industry: from sustainable forest management and forest maintenance – with capacity to plant up to 50 million new high-quality seedlings per year – to timber harvesting, sawmill operations, timber processing and distribution as well as biomass energy.
