Binderholz agrees to buy Kuhmo sawmill

Austrian timber-processing group Binderholz has agreed to buy Kuhmo Oy, a Finnish sawmill, according to Yle. The deal still requires approval from the competition authorities.

The agreement covers all shares in Kuhmo Oy and in the property company Juntisalo Oy. The sawmill’s 180 employees will transfer to the new owner.

Kuhmo Oy Chief Executive Tommi Ruha, one of the members of the company’s executive management who sold the sawmill, said Binderholz was committed to the mechanical forest industry both in Finland and abroad.

“They will certainly work with great dedication, which is good for the unit, its personnel and its partners,” Ruha said.

Ruha confirmed that the sale agreements were signed on Friday. The transaction will be completed once it receives regulatory approval.

Ruha will remain with the company for a fixed period as an employee transferring to the new owner. He said this would help Binderholz fully understand the business.

“After that, I may take up some of the hobbies that have received less attention in recent years,” he said.

Ruha said he had no other plans for the future. He added that certain matters related to a non-compete clause would also affect his options.

Kuhmo Oy has been largely owned by its key personnel since 2014. Juntisalo Oy has mainly been owned by the people who owned the sawmill before that.

Kuhmo Oy recorded revenue of about 146 million euros last year. Its operating result was about 3.4 million euros negative, while its result was approximately 46,000 euros. At the beginning of the decade, the company made annual profits of several tens of millions of euros.

The past few years have been difficult for both the sawmill sector and the forest industry as a whole. Finnish sawmill Pölkky, based in Kuusamo, was sold to Austrian company Pfeifer at the end of 2022.

Binderholz has operated in Finland since 2016, when it bought Vapo Timber Oy, including its company in Lieksa and sawmills in Nurmes. In 2017, it bought a glulam and planing line in Lieksa, expanding into further processing.

The more than 60-year-old Binderholz group operates in Austria and Germany, as well as in Finland under the name Binderholz Nordic Oy. It also has its own timber procurement unit in North Karelia and Savo.