Orkla Group

Orkla ASA

Type	Allmennaksjeselskap
Traded as	OSE: ORK
Industry	Conglomerate
Founded	1654
Headquarters	Oslo, Norway (formally registered in Sarpsborg)
Key people	Bjørn Wiggen (President and CEO), Stein Erik Hagen (Chairman)
Products	Branded consumer goods, aluminium products, metals and minerals, financial investments
Revenue	NOK 57.34 billion (2010)[1]
Operating income	NOK 4.222 billion (2010)[1]
Profit	(NOK 917 million) (2010)[1]
Total assets	NOK 87.54 billion (end 2010)[1]
Total equity	NOK 46.93 billion (end 2010)[1]
Employees	30,230 (end 2010)[1]
Subsidiaries	Borregaard, Elkem, Sapa, various branded consumer goods companies
Website	www.orkla.com

Orkla Group is a Norwegian industrial conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. The company's main divisions are branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions, materials, associates and financial investments.

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, Kalev, 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^[2] 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%).

History

Orkla started out in 1654 with pyrite 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 foods 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.

See also

• List of oldest companies

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Annual Report 2010". Orkla. http://www.orkla.com/dav/2be0d317d1.pdf. Retrieved 13 April 2011. 
2. ^ «Pareto kjøper Orkla Finans» from hegnar.no

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 59°55′6.90″N 10°41′5.13″E / 59.918583°N 10.6847583°E / 59.918583; 10.6847583