Viken, Sweden-based Pervanovo Invest AB and its subsidiaries in Croatia have acquired 98% of the shares in Spacva d.d. in Vinkovci, Croatia, one of Europe's largest manufacturers of oak veneers. 

Spacva has 850 employees. Following the acquisition, Pervanovo said it will become Croatia's largest wood processing company with 1,700 employees and five production units. Pervanovo's two Croatian veneer companies—Bjelin Otok and Spacva d. d.—located on the edge of Europe's largest continuous oak forest, Spacva Forest, has a production capacity of 25 million square meters [269 million square feet] of oak veneer. In a few years, the main part of the oak veneer will be used by the company to produce Valinge hardened wood floors in Viken, Sweden, and in Ogulin, Croatia.

“There is a shortage of oak, and the acquisition will double our oak supply," said Darko Pervan, CEO, Pervanovo Invest AB. "With our new Woodura technology, we can manufacture 10 times more hardened wooden floors from an oak log than when conventional technology is used. Through the acquisition, we have now secured all the oak veneers that we need to become Europe's leading wood flooring company with a production exceeding 20 million square meters.”

The company said it already buys large quantities of veneer from its sister company Bjelin Otok in Croatia. "The veneer from the oak in the Spacva forest is specially adapted for Välinge's production of long and wide Woodura floors and the high quality and FSC certification is very appreciated by our customers in Europe, USA, and Asia," said Niclas Håkansson, CEO, Välinge Innovation. "The expanded production capacity enables us to both increase our own flooring production as well as to supply veneers to our Woodura licensees."

When all shares have been acquired, Spacva d.d. in Vinkovci will be delisted and renamed to Bjelin Spacva d.o.o. Through the coordination of production units in Ogulin, Bjelovar, Otok, and Vinkovci, the oak raw material can be utilized more efficiently.

"The veneer production in Vinkovci will be coordinated with our veneer production in Otok," said Stjepan Vojnic, CEO, Pervanovo Croatia. "Our veneer plants in Vinkovci and Otok process 90% of all veneer logs harvested in Spacva Forest. The short transport distances provide significant benefits in terms of costs and product quality. Major investments will be made in the two veneer plants to adapt the veneer to the production of Woodura floors and to expand capacity. The production of elements and lamellas for parquet floors in Vinkovci will be expanded and coordinated with our production in Bjelovar. In Vinkovci we will also produce furniture with Välinge's click technology. With all these investments and the availability of FSC-certified oak, our Croatian group of companies will become one of the leading and most cost-effective sustainable wood processing units for oak raw materials in Europe. When all our planned investments are completed, the number of employees in Croatia will increase from 1,700 to about 2,500 and our sales will rise to about €500 million. Eighty percent of our future sales will be Woodura floors from our new factory Ogulin 2."

For more information, visit valinge.se and valingeflooring.com.