August 7, 2023
The sale of the production site HS Timber Productions Sebes to German Ziegler Group, which had been announced back in April, has been approved by the competent authorities. The closing of the transaction, which took place on August 7, marked the successful completion of the share sale, as both companies announced. The Ziegler Group will also take over the existing experienced team in Sebes.
April, 18 2023
The completion of the transaction is subject to the customary approval by the authorities. The closing is expected for mid-2023 after the official approval has been given. Both parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Ziegler Group will also take over the existing experienced team in Sebes consisting of around 650 employees.
The sawmill was HS Timber Group’s first production site in Romania. “We are pleased that we found a successful family business that will continue the lumber production at the site and expand the business,” Gerald Schweighofer, CEO of HS Timber Group, says. The sawmill in Sebes went into operation in 2003. The cutting capacity is around 1.45 million m³ of log wood a year. A planing mill, drying plants, a glued timber production, a pellet mill and two CHP plants are also located on the 53-hectare-big site.
For HS Timber Group, the purchase of Romanian softwood logs has been limited by law since 2016. The company may only buy a maximum of 30% of the annual harvest volume of each type of log wood. Due to the geopolitical situation, Ukraine, Russia and Belarus can no longer supply raw materials to the production site in Romania. In addition, complex import regulations and the rising cost of logistics are said to make wood imports increasingly difficult. With this step, HS Timber Group is securing its future in Romania in the long term and can use the capacities of its existing plants better and more efficiently as a result.
In the second quarter of 2022, HS Timber shuttered its sawmill in Radauti/RO (cutting capacity: 1.45 million m³/year) and its panel plant in Siret/RO. As a result, HS Timber now only operates one sawmill in Romania, i.e. in Reci. Together with Belgian joint venture partner Forestcape, HS Timber is currently building a sawmill in Argentina which will have an annual cutting capacity of 500,000 m³. Furthermore, a glued timber plant is under construction in Kodersdorf/DE.
Stefan Ziegler, Managing Director of the Ziegler Group, is enthusiastic about the newest member of the group. “HS Timber Productions Sebes marked the beginning of the success story of the HS Timber Group. We want to continue this success story. I am all the more happy about the decision to sell this production site to us, since we want to strategically develop the site and my group of companies. True to the philosophy 'From the tree to the house', we want the domestic market to benefit, right down to the creation of sustainable housing space.”
The location in central Romania makes the Sebes site a perfect addition to the sawmill division of the Ziegler Group, which operates production facilities in Germany and Sweden. In addition to high-quality raw materials, Sebes offers ideal conditions for the group’s purchasing and sales activities, particularly thanks to its central location.
Stefan Ziegler took over the company from his father, Wilhelm Ziegler, in 2008. Together with Andreas Sandner, he manages the fortunes of the Ziegler Group in Plößberg/DE, where the company operates a sawmill with a cutting capacity of 2.2 million m³ a year. That sawmill is also the biggest single production site in Germany. According to the Holzkurier’s survey, the Ziegler Group used to rank eleventh among Europe’s biggest manufacturers of softwood lumber. With the takeover, the company moves up to ninth place.
Ziegler Group
In recent years, all the signs have pointed to expansion. In mid-May 2022, the Ziegler Group bought the sawmills Balungstrands Sagverk and Backebrons Sagverk. With this first acquisition outside of Germany, the Bavarian company increased its cutting capacity by 700,000 m³ to almost 3 million m³ of log wood a year. In 2021, the Ziegler Group announced a major project. In Tirschenreuth in Bavaria, the company wants to invest €220 million in a timber construction competence center including two production lines for cross-laminated timber, each with an annual capacity of 75,000 m³, as well as a house construction line for up to 3,000 houses per year. Once the development plan process has been completed, construction is scheduled to start in early 2024. In August 2022, the Ziegler Group started up its wood-fiber insulation board plant in Grafenwöhr/DE. In full operation, the plant will have an annual capacity of 0.5 million m³ of solid and 1.5 million m³ of flexible insulation boards. Additionally, 20,000 tons of blow-in insulation can be produced there per year.
In 2021, the Ziegler Group acquired prefabricated house manufacturer Engelhard + Geißbauer. In October 2021, Ziegler Naturenergie put its pellet mill in Pressath/DE into operation. In the first phase of expansion, the capacity is 225,000 tons a year. In the final phase, around 300,000 tons a year should be produced there. At Ziegler Holztechnik in Hermsdorf, construction of the CLT production is currently underway. There, the company also operates a glulam plant with an output of around 75,000 m³/year.
