Under this agreement Coppice Resources Ltd (CRL), has acquired the company and its short rotation coppice (willow) contracts and will transfer the activities to their operating offices at Retford in Nottinghamshire. CRL was established in 1999 and since then has invested in SRC crops, technology and contracting and has a wide base of growers and industrial users. Commenting on this acquisition Mark Paulson, Managing Director of CRL and Renewable Fuels Ltd says; “In order to sustain growth in such a fledgling market it is essential to achieve a critical mass and this acquisition provides a secure base for our company to further expand and develop the market of SRC and bio energy crops in general. We view this as a long term investment that is very much in line with our development strategy.
”After careful consideration, we concluded that Coppice Resources Ltd. are in the best position to take over the management of Renewable Fuels Ltd”, says Per Strömberg, Lantmännen’s Group President and CEO, and Acting Sector Manager for Lantmännen Energi. “Whist we have withdrawn from direct UK presence in this market we look forward to strengthening our relationship with CRL through the testing evaluation and commercialization of new willow varieties from our company’s long established willow programme based in Svalöf Sweden“.