Wintersteiger acquires German machine builder SERRA
Ried i.I./Rimsting. Wintersteiger AG has purchased SERRA Maschinenbau GmbH in Rimsting am Chiemsee, Germany, with retroactive effect to January 1, 2019.
SERRA employs roughly 40 people and develops, manufactures, and distributes machines and saw blades for mobile and stationary sawmills. Roughly 60 % of its wares are exported to over 80 countries. In 2018 the firm posted increased revenues of 6.4 million euros. Like Wintersteiger, SERRA is also a specialist market leader in a niche sector.
The mobile and stationary sawmills complement the Wintersteiger product portfolio in the Woodtech business field (thin-cutting sawing machines, saw blades, automation solutions, and timber repair systems). The acquisition of SERRA has allowed the business field to add further services in the woodworking value-added chain. Logs with a diameter of up to 160 cm are split with SERRA sawmills before the wood can be further processed on Wintersteiger thin-cutting sawing machines.
"With this acquisition, Wintersteiger is pursuing a two-pronged approach to growth. On the one hand there is the potential to boost sales of SERRA products in markets that have either been completely or largely overlooked to date, but in which Wintersteiger has developed a mature sales structure – such as the USA. On the other hand, Wintersteiger can use the existing sales of SERRA sawmills to not only grow sales of band-saw blades in particular, but also thin-cutting sawing machines," explains Dr. Florestan von Boxberg, CEO of Wintersteiger AG.
Johann Fritz, Managing Partner of SERRA adds: "Wintersteiger and SERRA have already enjoyed a successful relationship stretching back for 15 years; a relationship which will now be further nurtured and intensified. In addition to the complementary nature of each firm's products, we both share a similar corporate philosophy. After 20 years at the helm I am unfortunately having to stand down for personal reasons, but I know that in Wintersteiger I am leaving the company in the safest hands."
The SERRA brand and the Rimsting site will continue under Wintersteiger. SERRA's current Managing Director, Christian Mayer, will be joined by Andreas Doubrava, Authorized Officer of Wintersteiger AG, to form SERRA's new management team
IT MAY INTEREST YOU
Unusual finding: a pine forest in excellent condition emerges after 6,000 years buried under the ice
In the world there are millions of forests. Some are close to urban centers, others in remote and inaccessible places, but they all fulfill a key role: maintain the balance of the planet. They are literally the lung of the earth. When talking about a new forest, the first thing that comes to mind is usually reforestation, a recent plantation or the recovery of an area razed by fire. But this discovery is on another way. It is not a forest sown recently. It is an old forest, which was there for thousands of years, buried under the ice. And now, with the thaw caused by global warming, he has emerged again.
Burned wood: the Japanese technique that beautifies and protects the material
Elegant, ecological and resistant: the wood treated with the millenary technique called Yakisugi challenges the weather and the passage of time. In the world of design and construction, a Japanese ancestral technique is gaining prominence. This is the Yakisugi (also known as Shou Sugi Ban), a method that consists in burning the surface of the wood to make it more resistant and attractive. Although it may seem contradictory, exposing wood to fire gives natural protection against moisture, insects and deterioration over time.
Know the Guayubira tree: one of the native timber species of the missionary jungle
With information from the Native Missions Species Manual (2024), developed in collaboration between the Faculty of Forest Sciences of the UNAM and the United States Forest Service (USFS) through the Project Update and Edition of the Wood Identification Manual of the Missionary Jungle, we share information from each digital tab that includes dendrological and anatomical characteristics. The manual was elaborated in the Wood, Dendrology and Dendrocronology Anatomy Laboratory (LAMDYD) of the Faculty of Forest Sciences in Eldorado, National University of Misiones.
