Sawmill business branches out with £10m turnover timber firm acquisition
BSW Group, the UK’s largest integrated forestry and sawmilling business, which is part of the portfolio of Leeds-based private equity firm Endless, has today acquired Dick Brothers Forestry Limited.
Dick Brothers is the largest timber harvesting company in the UK with annual sales of £10m.
Established over 25 years ago it boasts state-of-the-art forestry equipment and capabilities to harvest some of the largest forests in the UK.
It represents a cornerstone acquisition for the BSW group, securing in-house harvesting capabilities for its forestry and harvesting management division Tilhill.
Davy Dick, managing director of Dick Brothers, said: “We are delighted to be joining the BSW family.
“Whilst it is very much business as usual, we are excited to be working with the BSW team to continue the growth of the business and enhance the services we can bring our customers.
“We would also like to thank our previous owners, Faro Capital, for their support and investment in the business over recent years.”
Tony Hackney, CEO of BSW, said: “This is fantastic news for BSW. Dick Brothers is a business with strong heritage, fantastic prospects and one that we believe will bring huge value to BSW.
“Whilst operations at Dick Brothers and BSW will remain largely the same, there will be a number of areas for our businesses to support each other and we look forward to working with the Dick family to grow the business as part of the wider BSW Group.”
Endless acquired BSW in February 2020. Aidan Robson, Partner at Endless LLP, added: “We are delighted to be supporting BSW with its acquisition of Dick Brothers and we hope this is the first of many acquisitions BSW will be undertaking over the coming years.
“Through our ownership of BSW, and now Dick Brothers, we are committed to developing and growing UK Forestry as a whole and the environmental and economic benefits this will bring.”
BSW was founded in 1848 and its head office remains in the town of Earlston in Berwickshire, Scotland, where the business originated.
It has five main operating divisions – tree nurseries, forestry management, tree harvesting, sawmilling, and biomass energy – operating as BSW Timber, BSW Energy, Tilhill Forestry, Dick Brothers, Alvic Plastics and Maelor Forest Nurseries.
BSW Timber has a turnover of c£350m and capacity to produce over 1.2 million cubic metres of sawn timber per year. It operates at seven sites across the UK with one in Latvia.
BSW was advised by Walker Morris (Legal), EY (Tax) and Willis Towers Watson (Insurance). Dick Brothers was advised by Addleshaw Goddard (Legal).
