Endless acquires £350m forestry business

Fort William Sawmill lies five miles to the west of Fort William and Ben Nevis

BSW is the UK’s largest integrated forestry and sawmilling business with a turnover of over £350m and 1,200 employees.

The business has five main operating divisions: tree nurseries, forestry management, tree harvesting, sawmilling, and energy. It operates seven sawmills across the UK and one in Latvia.

BSW generated in excess of £16m EBITDA in 2019 and over the last 10 years it has invested more than £125m in its operations.

Leeds-based Endless said the business is deeply committed to supporting sustainable forestry and has recently vertically integrated through its acquisition of Maelor Forest Nurseries, a tree nursery business, which produces over 28 million tree saplings every year, ensuring sustainability of the UK’s forests.

For every tree BSW harvests, a minimum of five trees are planted in its place.

Tony Hackney, CEO of BSW, said: “This is fantastic news for BSW. Whilst it is business as usual, we are excited by the opportunities new ownership will bring us and we look forward to entering a new era of rapid growth and development with Endless’ support.

“We would also like to thank the Brownlie family for creating such a strong legacy and supporting the growth of the company and its employees.”

Aidan Robson, partner at Endless, said: “We are delighted to have acquired BSW, a business with strong heritage, fantastic prospects and one that we believe has a very exciting future.

“As the UK’s largest timber producer, BSW plays a critical role in supporting the UK’s commitment to using more local and sustainable raw materials and becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

“We look forward to working closely with Tony Hackney, Alan Milne and the rest of the BSW team to deliver continued organic growth and further diversification through investment and acquisition.”

The Royal Bank of Scotland Asset Based Lending team supported the transaction.

Andrew Barraclough, head of regional asset based lending, said: “We are delighted to be continuing to support such a fantastic Scottish business and long-standing client of the bank.”

Endless was advised by Walker Morris (Legal), Deloitte (Pensions), Poyry (Commercial), KPMG (Tax), and EY (Financial).

BSW were advised by MCF Corporate Finance (Corporate Finance) and Burges Salmon (Legal).

The management team was advised by Liberty Corporate Finance.