The transaction was approved by the Mayflower Enterprises shareholders and by the Australian Treasury’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
Mayflower Enterprises Pty Ltd is a sixth generation, family-owned company with an annual turnover of AU$380m in the year ending June 30, 2021.
Hyne Timber, dating back to 1882, operates two modern sawmills (Tuan, Queensland and Tumbarumba, NSW) producing circa 800,000m3 of sawn timber, employing 750 staff and enjoying a 21% market share in Australia.
The mills source approximately 1.6 Million tonnes of pine logs from plantations strategically located in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. Hyne Timber also operates a brand new glulam factory in Queensland, commissioned in 2020.
XLam (New Zealand) is the only cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere and was acquired in 2015. The company has since relocated to Wodonga, Victoria where Australia’s first ever CLT manufacturing plant was commissioned in 2018.
“We first commenced discussions with the Hyne family members in late 2020, and it quickly became apparent that the two companies were very similar culturally and shared complementary values regarding service and quality and looking after their employees,” said Tom Bruce-Jones, chairman of James Jones & Sons Ltd.
“We believe that this transaction will be an excellent addition to the James Jones & Sons Group and will provide a strong platform for further consolidation and growth in Australia and New Zealand.”
Jon Kleinschmidt, CEO of the Hyne Group, said there was no overlap in the operations of the two companies because of the locations, with the Hyne Group focused on Australasia and JJSL on Europe.
“We can now concentrate on identifying and developing growth opportunities in our region and beyond, through organic growth and acquisition, and through a cross fertilisation of ideas.”
The partnership between the Hyne Group and James Jones & Sons Ltd brings together 320 years of sawmilling heritage and represents a positive next chapter for the respective family businesses, and pools a knowledge base encompassing forestry, sawmilling, I-Joists, glulam, CLT and renewable energy.
