With the goal of further strengthening its own market position in Asia, the Egger Group acquired a 25.1 percent stake in the Thai wood-based material manufacturer Panel Plus. The purchase agreement was signed on 30 November 2023 and the closing took place on 3 January 2024. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price and further details of the transaction.
“As a significant growth market, Asia plays an important role in our strategic considerations. We have been considering expanding our presence there for some time now. In Panel Plus, we have found the ideal partner in this respect. Panel Plus has state-of-the-art production sites and a product portfolio that is perfectly tailored to regional requirements. We are convinced that we will benefit greatly from their local expertise and will be able to exploit further growth opportunities together. We are delighted with this strategic partnership,” says Thomas Leissing, Chief Financial Officer Egger Group and Speaker of the Group Management, explaining the background to the investment decision.
Panel Plus was founded in 1990 and today produces a wide range of wood-based materials such as chipboard and MDF boards, both laminated and unlaminated. The main production plant is located in Hat Yai in the southern Thai province of Songkhla. There is a raw chipboard line, two MDF lines as well as in-house impregnation units and ten lamination lines. A large proportion of the energy required comes from the company’s own biomass power plants. Panel Plus has additional upgrading capacities at the production site in Samut Sakorn, Thailand, and two further upgrading facilities in Malaysia and Vietnam are currently under construction and will become operational in 2024. In total, approx. 800 employees at Panel Plus produce a total volume of 800,000 m3 wood-based materials per year. Panel Plus is a subsidiary of the Mitr Phol Group, a private group of companies whose main business areas include sugar production, renewable energy, and wood-based material production.
