CHILE – Arauco announced the signature of a subscription of shares agreement for 50% of Spanish company Tafisa, which took place on May 31st, and represents a USD 150 million investment. 

This company owns 10 panel mills located in Spain, Portugal, Germany and South Africa, which combined produce a total of 4.2 million m3 of panels.

The purchase of Tafisa, a subsidiary of Portuguese group Sonae, creates a new company called Sonae-Arauco. “We’re very pleased with this strategic alliance, which allows us to geographically diversify in significant markets, with great perspectives. Today, Arauco is a global company that is extending its presence in the world through new and interesting challenges”, said Charles Kimber, Arauco’s Senior Vice-President Commercial & Corporate Affairs.

The company that Arauco purchased shares from manufactures and sells OSB, MDF and PB wood panels, as well as sawn timber, registering estimated annual sales for USD 900 million. In summary, Arauco will now operate two panel mills and a sawmill in Spain; two panel mills and a resin manufacturing facility in Portugal; four panel mills in Germany and two in South Africa.

Sonae-Arauco’s production capacity will be about 460.000 m3 of OSB; 1.45 million m3 of MDF; 2.27 million m3 of particleboard and 100,000 m3 of sawn timber. With this investment, Arauco ranks second in wood panel production at the global level, with an annual production close to 9 million m3.

Arauco has achieved sustained growth in terms of production in the panel business, mainly due to because its expansion to Argentina and Brazil during recent decades, and the purchase in 2012 of a number of production facilities in the United States and Canada, which placed the company as one of the world’s largest producers, with a combined production capacity of 6.6 million m3 at its 17 mills.

In addition, Arauco plans to build a new panel mill in Michigan, USA, which will have an annual production capacity of 750,000 m3 of wood panels. Construction work for this facility is expected to begin during 2016.