Ponsse Group will be in the future be responsible itself for the sales, spare parts and service business in Chile through its newly established subsidiary Ponsse Chile SpA. To this end, Ponsse and its local retailer F.C. Ventas Y Servicios Limitada (hereinafter “FC Ventas”) have on 5 November 2021 signed an asset purchase agreement related to Ponsse’s forest machine operations, according to which Ponsse Chile SpA will purchase FC Ventas’ service centre located in Chillan, including its spare parts stocks and maintenance vehicles, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions. The aim is that PONSSE services in Chile will transfer to Ponsse Group by the end of Q1/2022.
The employees of F.C. Ventas will join Ponsse Group as established employees after the transaction has been completed. Ponsse has prepared a comprehensive integration plan that will ensure a positive continuation of the local business and sufficient orientation for the employees.
The transaction has no impact on the previous guidance, which suggests that Ponsse Group’s operating result is estimated to be significantly higher than in 2020. Currently, Ponsse’s business in Chile amounts to approximately ten million euros. The purchase price of the transaction between FC Ventas and Ponsse will not be made public by mutual agreement. Furthermore, the purchase price has no impact on the valuation of Ponsse. The purchase price will be paid in cash subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions set for the completion of the transaction. Ponsse will fund the acquisition from its cash assets.
PONSSE forest machines have a market share of about 40 per cent of cut-to-length machines in Chile, and there are 150 PONSSE forest machines in the country. Further machine deliveries are expected as cut-to-length harvesting grows in popularity.
Securing service quality and continuity
Juho Nummela, Ponsse Plc president and CEO, says that FC Ventas has built a strong foundation for continuing the development of the service selection.
“We want to provide our customers in the growing Chilean market with the best support possible in the form of excellent products and services that ensure the continuity of their business. We have expanded our subsidiary network with care and always based on customer needs. Our range of products is a good fit for the local conditions, and we believe in the growth potential of PONSSE products and services in Chile,” says Nummela.
This change will not interrupt the local PONSSE services, which include machine sales, maintenance, spare parts services and training for local customers. The FC Ventas service centre in question was completed in 2015 and it operates in Chillan in the middle of Chile’s forested region.
Ponsse first started import operations in Chile in 2014, but the first PONSSE forest machines were already working in the country in the 1990s. The sustainable annual harvesting volume has grown steadily thanks to the trees’ quick life cycle and well-managed forest plantations. In 2019, Chile’s wood harvest for sawmills, pulp mills and veneer industry applications was 47.6 million cubic metres. The country’s forest industry is based on forest plantations, and 28 per cent of their harvesting is currently based on the cut-to-length (CTL) method.
Ponsse’s Vieremä factory currently exports 80 per cent of its production, and PONSSE solutions are sold and serviced by a network of 12 subsidiaries and 44 retailers. In addition to its international subsidiaries, Ponsse Group includes the technology company Epec Oy in Finland. Ponsse Chile SpA will join Ponsse’s other South American subsidiaries in Uruguay and Brazil.
Vieremä, Finland, 05 November 2021
PONSSE PLC
Juho Nummela
President and CEO
