Harvia Acquires Almost Heaven Saunas, Planting a US Flag in West Virginia

Harvia Plc announced on 21 December 2018 that it was acquiring the business of Almost Heaven Saunas, the Renick, West Virginia-based barrel sauna maker, for approximately EUR 4 million. The deal comes nine months after Harvia’s IPO on Nasdaq Helsinki and marks the company’s first major acquisition as a public entity. Track the rest of Harvia’s M&A program in our acquisitions timeline.

Why Almost Heaven

Almost Heaven was established in 1978, according to Harvia’s release (Almost Heaven’s own site gives 1977), and has grown into one of the leading sauna and spa product companies in the United States, with revenue of about USD 9 million in 2017. The company runs a timber shop, panel line, and assembly facility in Renick, West Virginia, and sells through specialty dealers and mass-market retail channels including Costco. For Harvia, the deal delivers three things it could not replicate quickly on its own: a US-based factory, a recognized consumer brand, and an established North American dealer footprint.

Almost Heaven will continue to operate under its existing brand name, with owner and CEO Rick Mouw staying on as a consultant to Harvia and Harvia providing integration support around heater supply, controls technology, and international sourcing. The company’s Renick operations will be maintained and expanded.

Strategic context

At the time of IPO, Harvia management laid out a clear consolidation thesis for the fragmented global sauna industry. Almost Heaven is the first execution against that thesis. North America is the single largest growth opportunity for the category, and having a domestic factory shields part of Harvia’s US revenue from any future tariffs on European-origin sauna goods, a consideration that would become significantly more relevant seven years later.

The brand positioning Harvia would eventually land on for Almost Heaven was articulated publicly years later, on the Q4 2025 earnings call, when CEO Matias Järnefelt sized the US opportunity and placed Almost Heaven squarely in the volume tier.

“We see a market with significant growth potential. We believe there is more than 10 million saunas” in the US. “Almost Heaven is the brand which you could consider like the IKEA of the saunas.” Matias Järnefelt, CEO, Harvia Q4 2025 earnings call, 12 February 2026

That IKEA framing, volume, accessible price points, recognizable brand, is the endgame of the thesis that started with this 2018 deal.

Correction, September 25, 2026: an earlier version of this article said the deal was announced on 28 June 2018, three months after Harvia’s IPO; that Almost Heaven was founded in 1998 and was the largest traditional sauna manufacturer for the North American consumer market; and that its management would continue. Harvia announced the acquisition on 21 December 2018 and completed it on 31 December 2018, nine months after the IPO; Harvia’s release said Almost Heaven was established in 1978 (Almost Heaven’s own site gives 1977) and described it as one of the leading sauna and spa product companies in the United States; and owner and CEO Rick Mouw was to work for Harvia as a consultant, per Harvia’s acquisition release and completion release.