Standort Tschechische Republik 285 21, Ostrov, Ostrov 3, 285 21 pošta Zbraslavice
LESS was founded in 1992 as a forestry company. Its main activities were forest harvesting, forest cultivation and timber trade. On 1st January 1994, the company got its first major contract with the state forests. In 1996, LESS was strengthened by buying shares in Podkrkonošská lesní a.s. and Šumavská lesní a.s. In 1998, the company expanded to other regions and continued introducing new modern technologies in the areas of forest harvesting, forwarding and timber transport.
After getting the first loan (48 millions CZK) in its history, the company also invested in a sawmill in Bohdaneč. LESS a.s. in its current form was created on 28th September 1999 by transformation of the former LESS s.r.o. Since 2002, LESS a.s. has expanded its business in the areas of providing distillation services for fruit producers, production and modification of fermentation produced alcohol. We also introduced fish breeding in ponds leased by the company and started producing charcoal and barbecue briquettes. In the middle of 2003, the company management endorsed a restructuring project – LESS a.s. became a holding company. The aim of the project was to transfer particular activities of LESS a.s. to specialized subsidiaries. The transfer process was completed during 2004. LESS a.s. came to be the mother company which provides its subsidiaries with services such as: economic and organizational consultancy, accountancy administration and IT consultancy. LESS & FOREST s.r.o. is in charge of forestry activities, LESS & TIMBER s.r.o. focuses on timber and sawmill operation, LESS & PATRICK s.r.o. operated a distillery, fishponds and ran a forest and garden products shop. These activities have since been ceded to Zelená Bohdaneč, s.r.o. a company outside the holding. In 2003, LESS a.s. founded another subsidiary - LESS & Co, s.r.o. in Žilina. In this way, forestry and timber purchase business activities were extended to Slovakia.
In 2003, LESS a.s. acquired a 39, 36% share of Krušnohorské lesy a.s. (KHL) registered capital. On 4 May 2007, LESS a.s. became its only shareholder. The main activity of KHL a.s., was reclamation, seedling production and forestry (harvesting and planting activities). The company has since merged with LESS & FOREST s.r.o. Together with other shareholders at the end of 2007, they established a new company: KHL-EKO a.s. focusing on reclamation and public green areas. The same year, two other subsidiaries were founded. LESS & TIMBER SK seated in Slovakia, deals with beech log cutting, production of beech sawn timber and production of beech glued board. The other, LESS Ukrajina TOV provides forestry services in Ukraine. In autumn 2007, LESS OOO was established in Russia, providing forestry services as well. LESS & ENERGY, s.r.o. was also created and took over the project of combined heat and power unit construction, a part of the Čáslav project.
In 2004, the LESS management agreed on the purchase and reconstruction of a number of decaying historical buildings in Ostrov (near Zbraslavice) which are a precious example of baroque architecture. A baroque chateau, rebuilt from a medieval fort is the most precious building on the estate. It is possible to track the history of Ostrov back to the 13th century. The buildings underwent a complete reconstruction to become the holding´s headquarters and were inaugurated on 29 May 2008.
The largest investment so far has been the wood processing plant in Čáslav. LESS is continuing the tradition of the local sawmill founded 125 years ago. It is the most modern plant processing coniferous large diameter logs in the Czech Republic. The first and second building stages of the electric and thermal production areas and sawmill started in the autumn of 2007 and were successfully concluded on 12th June 2009. The same day the operation of the plant started.
In autumn 2009 LESS took over the German company Holzwerk Hemau GmbH and thus became the largest European producer of glued semi-finished products for window manufacturing.
On March 31st, 2011 LESS & TIMBER s.r.o. concluded a contract with KRONOSPAN group and sold its share in LESS & TIMBER SK, s.r.o. ending its operation in Lehota pod Vtáčnikom, Slovakia.