Carlyle to acquire German wood processing group Klenk Holz

The over 100-year old German wood processing group Klenk Holz AG has agreed to sell itself to Washington-based private equity firm Carlyle Group.

Though Baden-Wuerttemberg-based company said that it has reached an agreement with an investor to sell the entire company, it did not name the buyer.

But Carlyle was mentioned as the buyer in the sale agreement sent to the European regulator the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission on 22 July.

Günter Hegemann, CEO of privately-held Klenk Holz had last week said that two potential suitors have strongly expressed their interest in buying the entire company.

It was earlier widely reported by the local media that Carlyle and its Munich-based peer Orlando Management AG were the last remaining bidders for Klenk Holz.

Founded in 1904 by Albert Klenk, Klenk Holz is one of the leading sawmill and wood processing companies in Europe with an annual capacity of about 2.3 million cubic meters of timber, of which more than 40 per cent is exported.

It has three mills located at Oberrot, Baruth and Wolfegg, and an in-house logging and logistics business.

The company is 78 per cent owned by the Klenk family and 22 per cent is held by Düsseldorf-based commercial bank WestLB's successor company Portigon.

Facing intense completion from other European rivals and expansion of its now bankrupt French operations, Klenk Holz has seen its sales plunging and debts rising. The sale has been agreed by its lenders.

The company has annual sales of €390 million ($515 million) and 1,240 employees.