Western Forest Products announced that a fully-owned subsidiary of Western has entered into an agreement to acquire certain assets of Washington-based Calvert Company for consideration of $12 million, including inventory of $2.5 million, subject to customary post-closing inventory adjustment.
Calvert is a glulam manufacturer with over 60 years of experience producing glulam beams in multiple species, including Douglas fir, southern yellow pine, and yellow cedar for industrial, commercial, and residential projects. Calvert has manufacturing facilities in Washougal, Wash., and Vancouver, Wash., with a combined annual glulam capacity of approximately 35 million board feet on a two-shift basis. The company produced approximately 13 million board feet of glulam in 2021 on a single-shift basis.
“We are excited to welcome Calvert’s employees to Western. This acquisition will help position Western to capitalize on the growing North American Mass Timber building market and is consistent with our strategy of moving up the product value chain and growing our portfolio of value-added products,” Don Demens, Western’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “We look forward to working with Calvert’s owner, Doug Calvert, who will be remaining with Western following the closing of the transaction in a consulting capacity. Doug’s strong relationships and expertise in glulam will be invaluable as we look to further grow the business.”
According to Western, mass timber construction, which utilizes products such as glulam and cross laminated timber, represents “a significant growth opportunity” in North America. Third party research estimates 4.4 billion board feet of lumber demand from Mass Timber construction by 2035.
The transaction will be financed with cash on hand and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022. As part of the transaction, Western has created a new engineered wood subsidiary which will remain focused on further growth opportunities throughout the entire Mass Timber value chain, according to the company.
Western is an integrated forest products company building a margin-focused log and lumber business to compete in global softwood markets. The company has operations in British Columbia and Washington state, with a lumber capacity in excess of 1.0 billion board feet from its seven sawmills and four remanufacturing facilities.
