Vapo Oy sold its sawmills in Northern Karelia to Austria-based Binderholz Group
Vapo Oy and the Austrian wood processing group Binderholz have signed an agreement on the sale of the entire share capital of Vapo Timber Oy, which is currently owned by Vapo Oy, to Binderholz Group. Vapo Timber Oy will be a part of the Binderholz Group and it will continue its operations under the name Binderholz Nordic Oy.
Vapo Timber Oy produces spruce and pine timber at its sawmills in Lieksa and Nurmes. The sawmills have a combined annual production capacity of approximately 450,000 cubic metres of sawn timber. In addition to Finland, their main markets are sawn timber for the construction industry and the joinery industry in Western Europe and North Africa. The company has about 100 employees and its annual turnover is approximately EUR 100 million.
According to Vapo Oy CEO Tomi Yli-Kyyny, the sawmill business is not a core business for the Group, and the transaction will free up resources for the development of energy-related businesses. While the transaction will have a slightly negative effect on the Group’s result for the current third of the fiscal year, it will improve Vapo Oy’s profitability and key figures going forward. Yli-Kyyny says he is pleased that Vapo Timber Oy will become part of a major European wood processing company, as this will preserve jobs at the sawmills and put the sawmills in an excellent position for growth and renewal.
In conjunction with the signing of the agreement, additional agreements were concluded between Vapo Timber Oy and Harvestia Oy regarding raw material deliveries to the sawmills, as well as an agreement on the supply of heating to the Kevätniemi sawmill from Vapo Oy’s power plant in Lieksa.
The signed transaction requires approval by the Austrian competition authorities. The transaction is scheduled to be completed by the end of January 2016.
More information:
Tomi Yli-Kyyny, Managing Director, Vapo Oy, tel. +358 20 790 5601
Juhani Ylä-Sahra, Director, Vapo Oy, tel. +358 400 778289
Suvi Kupiainen, CFO, Vapo Oy, tel. +358 40 821 1276