On Friday 28 February, SIA “ACA Timber” signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in the Latvian forestry and logistics company SIA “Metsä Forest Latvia” from “Metsä Group” parent company “Metsäliitto Cooperative”.

The transaction, which still requires approval from the Competition Council, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025. Both parties have agreed to keep the terms of the transaction confidential.

Juha Jumppanen (Juha Jumppanen), Vice President of “Metsä Forest”, stresses: “The sale of “Metsä Forest Latvia” comes a year after a similar process in Estonia and is in line with “Metsä Group”'s strategy of enhancing the flexibility of its international supply chain. The partners have also agreed on long-term supplies of pulpwood and wood chips to “Metsä Group”.”

“Metsä Forest Latvia”, which will shortly be renamed “ACA Forest”, is a close-knit, disciplined and well-organised team of 34 employees with decades of experience and ties to the Latvian forestry sector, underpinned by the company's own logging operations, and it will be led by its current and long-serving chief executive Juris Antoņēvičs.

The newly formed company will complement ACA's existing activities in the timber industry as an independent forest sector partner in the Baltic and Northern European markets, bringing significant expertise and a considerable volume of work.

For “ACA Timber” chief executive Armands Apfelbaums and his partners in Sweden and Germany, this acquisition will strengthen their operations in the Baltic region as well as across the rest of Northern Europe: “By welcoming 34 new colleagues and expanding our access to forests and Baltic ports, all our customers will benefit from long-term security of supply.”

“ACA Timber” is a Latvian/Swedish/German corporation owned by Armands Apfelbaums (Latvia), “Virke Impex AB” (Sweden) and “Claus Rodenberg Waldkontor Gmbh” (Germany). The partners, who have been working together on joint projects for almost 40 years, have full confidence in the newly acquired company, their new colleagues and the long-term success of “ACA Timber”/”ACA Forest”.