The purchase agreement dated January 31 includes significant German subsidiaries of the Ziegler Group:
- Ziegler Holzindustrie GmbH & Co. KG, Plößberg,
- Ziegler Naturenergie GmbH, Pressath,
- Ziegler Forst Service GmbH,
- Prechtl GmbH,
- Ruhland Druckluft GmbH
- and the train station in Wiesau.
As a result of the acquisition, Rettenmeier will become the third largest sawmill group in Europe. With a softwood lumber production output of 3.1 million m³ a year, the Rettenmeier Group is in third place behind Binderholz (4.5 million m³/year) and Stora Enso (around 4.1 million m³/year).
Dr. Stephan Lang, CEO of Rettenmeier Holding, will manage Europe’s third-largest sawmill group © DeSH
A few minutes ago, we had the opportunity to speak to Rettenmeier’s CEO Dr. Stephan Lang on the phone. First and foremost, he mentioned the “excellent access to raw materials both in terms of quality and quantity” as the main advantage of this deal. Rettenmeier has reportedly “put a lot of thought in the acquisition” and believes to have “found a setup with which we can continue to work successfully.”
At the now acquired site in Plößberg, there has been a sawmill since 1948. The site is a well-established sawmill. Over the years, five saw lines were installed, which were used to cut up to 2.2 million m³ of log wood a year, making the site the largest in Europe.
“We will no longer operate the sawmill on this scale,” Lang cautiously reveals. “We will have a lot of work to do to get the company back on track.”
The purchase agreements still have to be approved by the competition authorities. With the approval, the Rettenmeier Group’s cutting capacity will increase to 6.2 million m³ of log wood a year. The annual pellet production capacity will reach 420,000 tonnes.
Lately, the Ziegler Group still operated three other sawmills. Rettenmeier plans to put in a bid for those, too. “The insolvency administrator knows us now. We believe that the successful negotiations have put us in a good position to buy more sawmills,” Lang concludes the interview. The two sawmills in Sweden and the former HS Timber sawmill in Sebes/RO sawmills are the ones in question here. The latter has an annual production capacity of 740,000 m³, while the two Swedish mills respectively have a potential output of 120,000 m³ and 130,000 m³ a year. This would amount to a total capacity of 990,000 m³ a year.
