Mercer International Inc. has received bankruptcy court approval to acquire most of the assets of Structurlam Mass Timber Corporation and its subsidiaries, including a production facility located in Conway, Arkansas and production facilities in British Columbia, Canada, for $81.1 million.
The transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to be completed shortly.
The Conway facility is a modern, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that was built in 2021 and:
- has an annual capacity of approximately 75,000 m3;
- can produce both glued laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT);
- includes over 280,000 square feet of manufacturing space; and
- is strategically located in the Southern United States in proximity to growing construction markets and with access to a large and high-quality regional wood basket.
The assets also include three facilities located in British Columbia, Canada with a combined annual capacity of approximately 40,000 m3 of glulam and CLT.
The transaction will, among other things, add glulam production capability to Mercer’s existing mass timber offering. Glulam is a stress-rated, engineered wood product comprised of wood laminations that are bonded together. It is commonly used for support structures such as columns, beams, floor joists, and trusses and offers a high degree of customization and pre-fabrication. With a high strength-to-weight ratio, it offers increased efficiencies in logistics and a smaller carbon footprint relative to common construction materials such as steel and concrete.
Juan Carlos Bueno, Mercer’s president and CEO said: “The acquisition of the Structurlam assets is consistent with our strategy to expand and diversify our product mix in our solid wood segment and build out our existing mass timber business. The acquisition will materially increase our existing production capacity and cement our position as a leading producer of mass timber products.
“These assets complement our existing Mercer Mass Timber facility, located in Spokane Valley, Washington and provide significant potential synergies on a combined basis. As glulam is commonly incorporated into mass timber construction projects that utilize CLT, the acquisition of Structurlam will enhance our ability to service the growing customer base for our mass timber business.”
He added that the Mercer mass timber facility and the Conway facility are two of the most modern mass timber facilities in North America, which will position the company well to capitalize on the growing market share of CLT and glulam in the North American construction business.
“We look forward to completing the acquisition and continuing to grow our contribution to a circular carbon economy, providing sustainable and carbon reducing alternatives through our innovative forest products.”
Mercer International Inc. is a global forest products company with operations in Germany, the USA and Canada with consolidated annual production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes of pulp, 960 million board feet of lumber, 140 thousand cubic meters of cross-laminated timber, 17 million pallets and 150,000 metric tonnes of wood pellets. For more information on the company, please visit its web site at https://www.mercerint.com
