Paris, 1 February 2023 – Everwood, a subsidiary of Transition Evergreen, France’s leading listed investment fund dedicated to the ecological transition and reducing the carbon footprint, is strengthening its position in the domestic firewood market with the acquisition of Brazeco
Brazeco is the leader in the production and online sale of compressed logs, and is headquartered in Gironde.
A pioneer since 2009, Brazeco transforms the waste from the wood industry into renewable energy in the form of natural, high-performance and cost-effective compressed logs. Produced on 3 different sites in France from sawdust, these compressed logs result from a circular economy approach.
Brazeco has made its mark on the firewood market in the digital age by offering an online sales service tailored to consumers’ needs. Today, the company has more than 30,000 customers.
Following Everwood’s 100% buyout of Brazeco (from the two founders, the Newfund fund and a dozen business angels), Brazeco’s founders, Xavier Mahieu and Benjamin Dubourg, remain involved in the day-to-day management of the company and become Everwood shareholders. This first transaction is a concrete expression of Everwood’s build-up strategy in this sector, while capitalising on its current locations and creating synergies, particularly in digital marketing and procurement.
Wooday, everwood’s new firewood entity
Everwood continues to restructure its business and has created Wooday, an entity that brings together all its firewood activities.
Wooday incorporates Everwood’s historic business Bois Énergie Nord, soon to be renamed wooday.com, a specialist in e-commerce of firewood for private customers, particularly pellets, but also logs and compressed logs, and Brazeco, to create an integrated firewood supplier for private customers, covering everything from production to online sales, delivery or Click & Collect (already 120 outlets in France).
“Everwood’s ambition is to play a leading role in consolidating the wood energy sector for private consumers. Although the sector is very fragmented at the moment, it is undergoing a number of positive changes in terms of both usage and purchasing patterns. We are currently developing a complete offering to meet the needs of this market of 7 million households. The entire Everwood team is particularly pleased to welcome the two founders and their team, who are already helping to shape the future operations that we hope to announce shortly,” says Charles FLIPO, CEO of Everwood.
“Having developed unique expertise in the production of quality compressed logs and built up a loyal customer base throughout France, we wanted to give Brazeco the resources it needed to move into a second phase of growth. We approached Everwood to join forces with a group that has all the operational skills we were lacking on our own scale. The two teams share the same values, and together they are ready to prove their ability to develop projects that would never have seen the light of day on their own.”
Benjamin DUBOURG, co-founder of Brazeco.
Facts and figures: Over the last 10 years, the wood heating market in Europe has been booming, and the French market is among the most dynamic. It is estimated that 7 million French households now use wood for their home heating. The government hopes to increase this figure to 9.5 million households by 2023, a target supported by the Multiannual Energy Programme. As the leading renewable energy source produced in France, wood energy is a low-carbon energy source that contributes significantly to the country’s energy independence.
About Everwood
Founded in 2013, renamed in 2021 with the arrival of a new management team and employing 120 people, Everwood is positioned as an integrated player with the goal of actively contributing to the development of this sector, where France is lagging behind its neighbours. Everwood is currently structured around 4 core businesses: forest asset ownership, forest engineering, land management and e-commerce. The company intends to focus its strategy on adapting practices to the challenges of climate change.
Contacts
Anne Kassubeck
annekassubeck@gmail.com | + 33 (0)6 86 99 53 26
Léa Charletty
l.charletty@everwood.fr | + 33 (0)6 31 37 08 43
