Orkla Group
Encyclopedia
Orkla Group is a Norwegian
industrial conglomerate
operating in the Nordic region
, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. The company's main divisions are brand
ed consumer goods, aluminium solutions, material
s, associates and financial investments
.
, KiMs
, LaMote, Lilleborg
, MTR Foods, Peter Möller, Nidar
, Nora
, OLW
, Procordia Food, SladCo, Stabburet
, Sætre
, Sapa
, Elkem
, Borregaard
and Pierre Robert Group.
Borregaard is a Norwegian chemical company with products within wood based chemicals and other organic chemicals. Borregaard has 20 plants in 13 countries.
Elkem is a Norwegian-based industrial company producing silicon
and specialised products including carbon
, ferrosilicon
and microsilica. Elkem has 40 plants worldwide. They have invested $600 million in Elkem Solar to produce solar grade silicon without the massive energy that is normally required.
Sapa Group
is a Swedish-based company that produces high value-added profiles, building systems and heat transfer strips in aluminium. Sapa Group
's aluminium profiles business was in 2007 merged with Alcoa's, almost doubling Sapa's turnover. In 2009 Alcoa
took over all aluminium activities from Elkem while Sapa Group
took over the profile business from Alcoa. The same year Sapa Group
took over bankrupt Indalex in USA and Canada.
Orkla also owns Orkla Financial Investments which consists first of all of portfolio
of investments. In october 2010 Orkla sold Orkla Finans Group who offer investment management
and investment
and pension
counselling to Pareto Group
. In addition it consists of the Orkla Finans Real Estate, who develop real estate
, in addition to Borregaard Skoger who own and manage the groups forest
properties.
Through its portfolio of investments (market value of NOK 17.5 billion in 2007), Orkla owns a number of stock in different companies, primarily listed companies in Norway and the Nordic Countries. As of March 2009, Orkla has major ownerships in Jotun
(42.5%) and Renewable Energy Corporation
(39.73%).
mining
at Løkken Verk
in Sør-Trøndelag
, Norway
. Later the company also started mining copper
, but the copper mining was abandoned in 1845. In 1904 Orkla Grube-Aktiebolag was founded by Christian Thams
to start commercial mining at Løkken Verk, including the construction of Thamshavnbanen
, the first electric railway in Norway, between Løkken Verk and Thamshavn
. This railway is still operated as a museum railway after the mining operations at Løkken Verk were closed on July 10, 1987.
In 1929 Orkla became listed on Oslo Stock Exchange
and in 1931 the new smelting plant
at Thamshavn outside Orkanger
is opened. By 1941 Orkla started with a separate investments portfolio, and opened offices in Oslo in 1975. In 1984 Orkla started a major takeover of Norwegian newspapers, creating Orkla Media as one of the three largest media
companies in Norway. Half of the magazine
publisher Egmont-Mortensen is added to Orkla Media in 1992 and the Danish Det Berlingske Officin
in 2000. Orkla sold the media section to Mecom in 2006.
In 1988 Orkla merged with Borregaard
based in Sarpsborg
to form Orkla Borregaard. The company then merged with Nora Industrier
in 1995. Orkla heavily invests in food
s and among others acquired Swedish brewery
Pripps
as well as other companies including Abba Seafood, Baltic Beverages Holding
and Procordia Food. Norwegian Ringnes
and Pripps were merged with Carlsberg Breweries, where Orkla acquires a 40% ownership in 2000. Orkla sold its ownership in Carlsberg in 2004, the same year it buys SladCo. In 2005 Orkla bought the Norwegian material company Elkem
and Sapa Group
in Sweden. In 2010 Orkla bought the Estonian confectionary company Kalev.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
industrial conglomerate
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
operating in the Nordic region
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. The company's main divisions are brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
ed consumer goods, aluminium solutions, material
Material
Material is anything made of matter, constituted of one or more substances. Wood, cement, hydrogen, air and water are all examples of materials. Sometimes the term "material" is used more narrowly to refer to substances or components with certain physical properties that are used as inputs to...
s, associates and financial investments
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
.
Operations
Orkla's branded consumer goods division produces brands in many fields, primarily in the Nordic region, but also in other places, especially in the Central and Eastern European countries, Russia and the Baltic region. Among the companies owned by Orkla are Abba Seafood, Bakers, Beauvais foods, Chips, Collett Pharma, Felix Abba, Göteborgs Kex, KalevKalev (company)
Kalev Chocolate Factory is an Estonian confectionery company. The company can trace its origins back two hundred years, it was founded in 1806, and is now a part of the industrial conglomerate Orkla Group...
, KiMs
KiMs
KiMs is a Danish owned brand of chips and snacks owned by the Finnish Company Chips AB, which in turn is owned by the Norwegian Orkla Group.The brand "KiM" was trademarked in 1961 by Odense Marcipanfabrik in Denmark, but as a German cigarette brand of this name already existed, the name was...
, LaMote, Lilleborg
Lilleborg
Lilleborg AS is a major hygiene and cleaning article company in Norway, owned by the Orkla Group. It was established in 1833, and was one of the first companies in Norway to start manufacturing brand name products...
, MTR Foods, Peter Möller, Nidar
Nidar
Nidar is a Norwegian producer and distributor of confectionery. Nidar's candy factory is located in Trondheim, Norway. It is part of the Orkla Group....
, Nora
Nora
Nora or Norah may refer to:*Nora , an English and Irish feminine personal name* Nóra , a Hungarian feminine personal name-People:*Nora Aunor, a multi-awarded Filipino actress-singer-producer*Norah Baring, a British movie actress...
, OLW
OLW
OLW could refer to:* Centennial Station, Olympia, Washington, United States; Amtrak station code OLW.* Office Live Workspace The online collaboration tool.* Oldham Werneth railway station, England; National Rail station code OLW.* Original Loss Warranty...
, Procordia Food, SladCo, Stabburet
Stabburet
Stabburet is a Norwegian food producer founded by Gunnar Nilsen in 1943. Stabburet is a part of Orkla Foods, and has ten factories in southern Norway. It sells well-known brands, such as Grandiosa, Big One, Nugatti, Fun Light, Idun and Chef....
, Sætre
Sætre (company)
Sætre is a Norwegian biscuit company.It was established in 1883 by Hans Otto Røhr at Sætre farm in Heggedal. The production moved to Oslo in 1967 and Kolbotn in 1967. In 2000 the production at Kolbotn was discontinued, moving to Kungälv. The company is owned by the Orkla Group since 1986,...
, Sapa
Sapa Group
Sapa AB is a Swedish manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Orkla Group, and based in Stockholm...
, Elkem
Elkem
Elkem is one of Norway's largest industrial companies, and one of the world's leading suppliers of metals and materials. The company's main products are aluminium, energy and silicon as well as specialised products such as ferrosilicon to foundries, microsilica and carbon...
, Borregaard
Borregaard
Borregaard is a Norwegian company, established in 1889 in the southeastern town of Sarpsborg in Østfold county. Its main products were traditionally pulp and paper. The company later started producing chemicals based on timber as a raw material...
and Pierre Robert Group.
Borregaard is a Norwegian chemical company with products within wood based chemicals and other organic chemicals. Borregaard has 20 plants in 13 countries.
Elkem is a Norwegian-based industrial company producing silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
and specialised products including carbon
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
, ferrosilicon
Ferrosilicon
Ferrosilicon, or ferrosilicium, is a ferroalloy, an alloy of iron and silicon with between 15% and 90% silicon. It contains a high proportion of iron silicides. Its melting point is about 1200 °C to 1250 °C with a boiling point of 2355 °C...
and microsilica. Elkem has 40 plants worldwide. They have invested $600 million in Elkem Solar to produce solar grade silicon without the massive energy that is normally required.
Sapa Group
Sapa Group
Sapa AB is a Swedish manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Orkla Group, and based in Stockholm...
is a Swedish-based company that produces high value-added profiles, building systems and heat transfer strips in aluminium. Sapa Group
Sapa Group
Sapa AB is a Swedish manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Orkla Group, and based in Stockholm...
's aluminium profiles business was in 2007 merged with Alcoa's, almost doubling Sapa's turnover. In 2009 Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
took over all aluminium activities from Elkem while Sapa Group
Sapa Group
Sapa AB is a Swedish manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Orkla Group, and based in Stockholm...
took over the profile business from Alcoa. The same year Sapa Group
Sapa Group
Sapa AB is a Swedish manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Orkla Group, and based in Stockholm...
took over bankrupt Indalex in USA and Canada.
Orkla also owns Orkla Financial Investments which consists first of all of portfolio
Portfolio (finance)
Portfolio is a financial term denoting a collection of investments held by an investment company, hedge fund, financial institution or individual.-Definition:The term portfolio refers to any collection of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash...
of investments. In october 2010 Orkla sold Orkla Finans Group who offer investment management
Investment management
Investment management is the professional management of various securities and assets in order to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of the investors...
and investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
and pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
counselling to Pareto Group
Pareto Group
Pareto Group is a Norwegian holding company that owns several financial brokers, including 75 % of Pareto Securities and the shipbroker Bassøe. In 2008 Pareto will start its own bank, Pareto Bank. In 2006 it had 5.1 % of the trade on the Oslo Stock Exchange...
. In addition it consists of the Orkla Finans Real Estate, who develop real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
, in addition to Borregaard Skoger who own and manage the groups forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
properties.
Through its portfolio of investments (market value of NOK 17.5 billion in 2007), Orkla owns a number of stock in different companies, primarily listed companies in Norway and the Nordic Countries. As of March 2009, Orkla has major ownerships in Jotun
Jotun (company)
Jotun A/S is one of the world's leading producers of paints, coatings and powder coatings. The group has 70 companies and 38 production facilities on all continents. In addition, Jotun has agents, branch offices and distributors in more than 80 countries...
(42.5%) and Renewable Energy Corporation
Renewable Energy Corporation
The Renewable Energy Corporation is a solar power company with headquarters in Norway. REC produces silicon materials for photovoltaics applications and multicrystalline wafers, as well as solar cells and modules...
(39.73%).
History
Orkla started out in 1654 with pyritePyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
at Løkken Verk
Løkken Verk
Løkken Verk is a village in the municipality of Meldal in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located south of Svorkmo , east of Bjørnli, and north of the municipal center of Meldal....
in Sør-Trøndelag
Sør-Trøndelag
- References :...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Later the company also started mining copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, but the copper mining was abandoned in 1845. In 1904 Orkla Grube-Aktiebolag was founded by Christian Thams
Christian Thams
Christian Thams was a Norwegian architect, industrialist, businessman and diplomat.-Background:Christian Marius Thams was born in Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. His parens were Marentius Thams and Emilie Christine Ullitz...
to start commercial mining at Løkken Verk, including the construction of Thamshavnbanen
Thamshavnbanen
The Thamshavn Line was Norway's first electric railway, running from 1908 to 1974. Today it is operated as a heritage railway and is the world's oldest railway running on its original alternating current electrification scheme, using 25 Hz 6.6 kV AC. It was built to transport pyrites...
, the first electric railway in Norway, between Løkken Verk and Thamshavn
Thamshavn
Thamshavn is a small port village in the municipality of Orkdal in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is the site of the port for Orkanger and the ferrosilicon plant Elkem Thamshavn...
. This railway is still operated as a museum railway after the mining operations at Løkken Verk were closed on July 10, 1987.
In 1929 Orkla became listed on Oslo Stock Exchange
Oslo Stock Exchange
The Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...
and in 1931 the new smelting plant
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
at Thamshavn outside Orkanger
Orkanger
Orkanger is village and former municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the present-day municipality of Orkdal at the end of the Orkdalsfjorden, and arm of the Trondheimsfjord. Orkanger is the administrative and commercial centre of the municipality of Orkdal...
is opened. By 1941 Orkla started with a separate investments portfolio, and opened offices in Oslo in 1975. In 1984 Orkla started a major takeover of Norwegian newspapers, creating Orkla Media as one of the three largest media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
companies in Norway. Half of the magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
publisher Egmont-Mortensen is added to Orkla Media in 1992 and the Danish Det Berlingske Officin
Det Berlingske Officin
Berlingske Media is a Danish media company that owns a large number of newspapers, in addition to websites and national and local radio stations....
in 2000. Orkla sold the media section to Mecom in 2006.
In 1988 Orkla merged with Borregaard
Borregaard
Borregaard is a Norwegian company, established in 1889 in the southeastern town of Sarpsborg in Østfold county. Its main products were traditionally pulp and paper. The company later started producing chemicals based on timber as a raw material...
based in Sarpsborg
Sarpsborg
is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg.Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neighbouring Fredrikstad...
to form Orkla Borregaard. The company then merged with Nora Industrier
Nora
Nora or Norah may refer to:*Nora , an English and Irish feminine personal name* Nóra , a Hungarian feminine personal name-People:*Nora Aunor, a multi-awarded Filipino actress-singer-producer*Norah Baring, a British movie actress...
in 1995. Orkla heavily invests in food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
s and among others acquired Swedish brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
Pripps
Pripps
Pripps was a major brewery in Sweden and is now a part of Carlsberg, in which Pripps remains as a trademark. The company was based in Gothenburg; their main product was Pripps Blå. They also owned Ramlösa. Pripps was founded in Gothenburg by Johan Albrecht Pripp in 1828.-Beer:Pripps Blå, lit...
as well as other companies including Abba Seafood, Baltic Beverages Holding
Baltic Beverages Holding
Baltic Beverages Holding is a brewing company owned by Carlsberg Group. It is a significant operator in the brewing industry in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic countries and Kazakhstan, most notably holding a controlling stake in Baltika Breweries...
and Procordia Food. Norwegian Ringnes
Ringnes
Ringnes is the largest brewer in Norway.-History:Ringnes AS was founded in 1876. The company's brewery in the Grünerløkka district of Oslo produced its first beer in 1877. The brewery was founded by brothers Amund and Ellef Ringnes together with financial director Axel Heiberg...
and Pripps were merged with Carlsberg Breweries, where Orkla acquires a 40% ownership in 2000. Orkla sold its ownership in Carlsberg in 2004, the same year it buys SladCo. In 2005 Orkla bought the Norwegian material company Elkem
Elkem
Elkem is one of Norway's largest industrial companies, and one of the world's leading suppliers of metals and materials. The company's main products are aluminium, energy and silicon as well as specialised products such as ferrosilicon to foundries, microsilica and carbon...
and Sapa Group
Sapa Group
Sapa AB is a Swedish manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Orkla Group, and based in Stockholm...
in Sweden. In 2010 Orkla bought the Estonian confectionary company Kalev.