Viken, Sweden -- Investment company Pervanovo, owner of Välinge Innovation AB, acquired the Croatian veneer producer Furnir Otok from the founder Jozo Jovic. Oak veneer is the most crucial raw material in Woodura, a reinforced wood surface manufactured by Välinge, and the acquisition is aimed to secure supply of sufficient quantities of cost-efficient, high-quality veneer for the expanding production of flooring with Woodura surface.

Välinge has installed high-tech production lines with a capacity of 7 million square meters of powder-based floors with Woodura and Nadura in Viken, Sweden. In 2020, a new production line for Woodura with a capacity of 6 million square meters will be completed in Croatia. The total flooring capacity, including conventional parquet floors, will expand to about 15 million square meters within a few years, which will help the Pervanovo group become one of the major flooring companies in Europe, the company said in a statement. The total investment for this first step is estimated to about €180 million ($209.6 million). One-third of the investment is related to the Swedish activities and the rest to the Croatian activities. After the acquisition of Furnir Otok, Pervanovo will have about 830 employees in Croatia.

Furnir Otok is located in the heart of the Spacva forest in Croatia, which is one of the largest intact oak forests in Europe known for its high-quality oak. The company has a long-term supply contract with the state-owned Croatian forest company Hrvatske Šume comprising large quantities of the F1 Select grade oak.

Furnir Otok is a modern European plant that produces high-quality veneer, the company the said. Production started in 2011, and the plant produces 7.5 million square meters of veneer that is mainly supplied to the European furniture industry. The capacity is about 15 million square meters. Furnir Otok has 130 employees. In 2017 the company reported sales of €10 million ($11.65 million) and an EBITDA of €3 million ($3.49 million).

Furnir Otok d.o.o. will be renamed to “Bjelin Otok” and will continue to supply veneer to the present customers. However, in step one the production will increase to the present capacity of 15 million square meters and in step two a new veneer slicing line will be installed that will increase the production further to 20 million square meters. The additional quantities will be used for Woodura production. Furnir Otok will also expand its production to veneer splicing. Individual plank sized veneer strips will be connected to large 2.1x2.4-meter sheets in order to facilitate feeding of veneer into the high tech continuous Woodura press lines.

In addition, Furnir Otok has the veneer know-how needed to expand the veneer production to other Pervanovo plants in Croatia. The Pervanovo R&D company Välinge will extend its R&D activities with veneer technology and the objective is to develop special veneers that are optimal for the production of floors with Woodura.

For more information, visit www.valinge.se.