One of the world’s largest modular housing manufacturers has a new owner after Skansa sold its stake in BoKlok, a joint venture operated with IKEA. Wood Central understands that Skansa – one of the world’s largest contractors – sold its share in the Byggsystem modular housing factory to Surewood Housing AB – a Gelba and Active Invest subsidiary – for SEK 110 million (or US $10.3 million).
The handover – which occurred last Thursday – comes after Skansa, in 2017, invested more than SEK 250 million (or US $23.43 million) to increase production at the plant by more than 50% – driving 14,000 low-cost timber-framed houses in Sweden, Finland, Norway and the UK.
However, despite these investments, economic challenges, including inflation and rising interest rates, have led to a downturn in the residential construction industry in Sweden and across Europe. This economic climate has adversely affected BoKlok’s operations, culminating in an operating loss of SEK 614 million (US $57.3 million) in 2024.
The acquisition comes at a time when half of Sweden’s municipalities are experiencing a chronic housing shortage. To address this, Surewood wants to reboot production to meet the country’s 52,000 demand for housing: “This acquisition is a natural next step that will enable us to offer homes, manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility in Gullringen, to customers throughout the country,” according to Leif West, Chairman of Surewood Housing Holdings.
- To learn more about the BloKlok plant, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive tour of the factory in June 2023.
