Taylor Wessing Advised Insolvency Administrator On The Sale Of Swedish Green Wood Sverige AB To Profura

Taylor Wessing Advised Insolvency Administrator on the Sale of Swedish Green Wood Sverige AB to Profura

Taylor Wessing advised insolvency administrator Volker Böhm (Schultze & Braun) on the sale of Green Wood Sverige AB and its sawmill subsidiaries, Bäckebrons Sagverk AB and Balungstrands Sagverk AB, to Swedish holding company Profura through a share deal. The transaction marks a key step in restructuring efforts following the insolvency of the Ziegler Group.

Green Wood Sverige AB and its subsidiaries employ around 85 people across two sites in Bäckebrons and Balungstrands. Profura has confirmed that it will continue operating both sites and retain all employees. Notably, the Ziegler Group had acquired these sawmills from Profura in 2022, making this a significant transaction. The sale remains subject to approval by Swedish authorities.

Taylor Wessing provided comprehensive legal support to the insolvency administrator, successfully handling contract negotiations and transaction structuring.

Since the end of November 2024, 27 of the 45 Ziegler Group companies had filed for insolvency. In recent years, the group had embarked on an aggressive growth course, not least through acquisitions. In addition to its core business of woodworking and wood processing for the construction industry, the Ziegler Group is now active in logistics, pellet production, forestry, house and modular construction, as well as in related trades such as building services. However, in the midst of its growth phase, the group was hit hard by the slump in demand in the construction sector as a result of the war in Ukraine and the rise in interest rates. According to its own information, the Ziegler Group employed around 3,000 people in three countries (Germany, Sweden and Romania) at the beginning of the insolvency proceedings and generated group sales of around 750 million euros in 2023 in weak markets.

The Taylor Wessing team advising Volker Böhm was led by Dr. Hendrik Boss (Partner, Restructuring & Insolvency) and Dr. Philip Cavaillès (Partner, Corporate/M&A), with key contributions from: Corporate/M&A: Eric-Sebastian Velten, LL.M, Inken Brandt, LL.M; Restructuring & Insolvency: Lisa Iwersen, Timo Pröbster, Constantin Borowiak; Banking/Finance: Clemens Niedner (Partner), Maike Schöber (Partner), Dr. Stephan Klein (Senior Associate) Competition, EU & Trade: Dr. Marco Hartmann-Rüppel (Partner), Dr. Stefan Horn, LL.B. (Salary Partner), Lena Rindsfus (Associate)

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