Balcas Limited

Balcas was established as a saw milling business in 1962. Initially its growth was limited by the availability of raw materials locally. It made its first acquisition in 1988 and since then it has made several others both in Ireland and overseas.

These acquisitions, together with organic developments within its core operation, has enabled the group to grow to its turnover to approximately £60 million.

Enterprise Equity invested in Balcas in 1999 as part of a £23 million financing package primarily designed to fund the purchase and installation of a new state of the art “supermill”. This mill enabled Balcas to significantly improve the yield achieved from the log supply and to increase capacity with considerable automation. The new mill commenced production in 2000 and is now performing well ahead of its initial output targets.

In addition to its Irish saw milling operations, the company also has a mill in Estonia. Balcas Kildare manufactures MDF (medium density fibreboard) products and the Pallet Centre has facilities in Belfast and Cork.

In 2005 a new £8 million Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant was commissioned on the Enniskillen site. This utilises the waste produced from the saw milling operation to meet the site’s electricity needs; provide heat to the drying kilns; produces up to 50,000 tonnes of fuel pellets to be sold to third parties; as well as supplying electricity back to the grid.

Chief Executive Officer: Ernest Kidney
Enterprise Equity Contact: Aidan Langan

<< BACK