Klausner acquires assets of Switzerland’s largest sawmill Swiss Timber

Jun 29, 2011. /Lesprom Network/. Klausner has surprised the European sawmilling industry by reportedly emerging as the successful bidder for the assets of Switzerland’s largest sawmill Swiss Timber, as TTJ reported. Egger had been confident of securing a deal to buy the closed mill, which has a 1 million cubic metres sawn capacity, and reopen it for business based on long-term assurances of raw material supply. But its bid foundered at the final hurdle after it said yesterday that it had not received enough raw material promises from outside the Grisons region. According to Swiss news portal Cash, Klausner’s Holz Thüringen mill has bought the machinery for CHF 20 million ($24 million) and wants to remove it and rebuild elsewhere, though it is not yet clear exactly where this will be. Cash said Egger had offered CHF 17 million ($20.4 million) to keep the operation, with the Austria-based Schweighofer Group offering a similar amount. “We were also a member of the bidding consortium,” a Schweighofer spokespeson confirmed to TTJ. “But we didn’t take part in the auction on Monday, as it was obvious that Klausner’s bid was too high.” Egger said it was regrettable that a workable solution could not be found to keep the mill open. “Unfortunately, the time was too short to secure the commitment of supplying the necessary quantity of 300,000 cubic metres of roundwood per year,” said Egger’s Walter Schiegl. Egger had managed to secure commitments for the supply of 150,000 cubic metres from the Grisons region, but not enough supply was forthcoming from forest owners outside Grisons. Egger said it would only have increased its bid if it had secured the full supply commitment. The Swiss Timber sawmill, originally a Stallinger-owned plant, was operated by Mayr-Melnhof when it went bankrupt at the end of 2010.