Swedish manufacturer Hanza will buy a metalworking plant in Estonia’s Narva, employing 400 people, and will become one of the biggest employers in the eastern border city.
Finnish company Fortaco currently owns the metalworking plant and has done so for nearly 20 years. The facility produces heavy engineering components for the forestry and mining sectors.
Under an agreement signed on July 15, Hanza will take over the factory as Fortaco plans to focus exclusively on manufacturing heavy equipment cabs in the future.
Hanza Group already operates several manufacturing units in Estonia, including a heavy engineering plant in Narva.
With the acquisition of the Fortaco factory, the company will become one of Narva’s largest employers with 800 employees.
The acquisition also does not mark the end of the group’s expansion plans.
“Last year we acquired Leden’s factories in Finland and Estonia. Now we have the Fortaco deal, which brings us another 400 dedicated colleagues in Narva. The sector we operate in there is heavy engineering, where we see strong customer demand, and we want to keep growing,” said Liivar Kongi, Head of Hanza Group’s Eastern Region.
The parties have not disclosed the value of the deal, but confirmed that the sale of the five factories is worth less than EUR 200 million. The transaction is still subject to approval by the competition authority and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. (ERR)