Helping Livonia Partners to build a global leader in sauna and thermally modified wood market
Client
Livonia PartnersThe background:
In 2016, Livonia Partners, one of the leading private equity funds in the Baltics, made their first acquisition of the Estonian company Ha Serv, a strong candidate for international expansion. At that time, it was already a noticeable player in Europe’s sauna and thermally modified wood segment, with around 200 full-time employees and a turnover of EUR 20M.
Following the acquisition, we helped Livonia Partners and Ha Serv assess the global sauna and thermally modified wood markets.
The essence of the project:
The project’s core involved extensive research because no credible data was available for these niche segments. Our team had to collect data from scratch, segment products and distribution, and conduct over 50 expert interviews worldwide to understand the market and its specifics. Using multiple approaches to gather and validate market statistics (such as data from manufacturers, distributors, relevant associations, and experts), our team comprehensively analysed the market and identified the most attractive segments in terms of market size, growth, and profitability.
In line with Livonia Partners’ strategy to strengthen its global leadership in 2017, it acquired Suomen Lämpöpuu, a Finnish company focused on thermally modified wood and painted products. This acquisition complemented Ha Serv’s product line, leading to the merger of both companies. We assisted Ha Serv and Suomen Lämpöpuu in reevaluating their sales processes, defining synergies, and creating a unified sales team and procedures to maximise upsell potential and drive sales in new segments.
In 2018, Livonia Partners executed another merger with Thermory as part of its strategy to create a global leader in sauna and thermally modified wood. Our team facilitated the post-merger integration process and led strategic synergy planning for Ha Serv and Thermory. Given the substantial size of both companies (around EUR 65M in turnover jointly and around 500 employees), the post-merger planning was rather sophisticated and required significant involvement from management teams and Livonia Partners management. The synergy planning was separated into four key workgroups: sales, procurement, production, and administration. Once strategic synergies were identified and a one-year detailed post-merger integration plan was formed, it was presented by workgroup leaders and approved by top management and shareholders. After the board accepted the strategy, we helped the joint company set up the PMO process for continuous monitoring of the implementation of initiatives.
Services provided:
- Detailed market analysis that drove the company’s strategic focus toward ambitious growth and expansion in segments with high potential.
- A two-year strategy was formed in collaboration with Ha Serv and Livonia Partners, emphasising organic growth and regional mergers.
- The roadmap with strategic initiatives and financial forecasts, assigning responsible managers, deadlines, and KPIs helped the management of Ha Serv and Livonia Partners to have a common vision of future targets and key initiatives.
Project result:
Believing in the idea of building a global company by using detailed analytics and strategic planning has led our client to become the global leader in sauna and thermally modified wood. The joint company, operating under the Thermory brand name, now boasts a turnover of more than EUR 100M and employs more than 700 people.
Kaido Veske, Founding Partner at Livonia Partners, summed it perfectly: “We started with one single facility in Tartu and ended with 8 facilities, 2 warehouses, and 2 sawmills across the globe.”
On behalf of the CIVITTA team that has been assisting Livonia Partners, Thermory, Ha Serv, and Suomen Lämpöpuu on their journey towards building the global leader in the thermally modified and sauna wood segment, we would like to congratulate Livonia Partners on the successful sale of the majority stake in Thermory to UG Investeeringud.
