Ahlstrom
Encyclopedia
Ahlstrom is a Finnish wood processing firm and a global manufacturer of specialty papers and nonwoven materials, using natural and synthetic fibers to produce roll goods for customers who turn them into hundreds of products. Ahlstrom's shares have been traded on the main list of the Helsinki Stock Exchange
since March 2006. Registered trademarks include Disruptor nano-fiber based water filter media using electrokinetic absorption and mechanical entrapment; Trinitex activated carbon air and water filter media; Cytosep solid phase blood plasma filer media; and Hydraspun wetlaid, hydroentangled wipes media combining natural and synthetic fibers without latex binders.
: the founder, Antti Ahlström
, was one of Finland's most prominent 19th century businessmen. Ahlstrom was started in 1908, and originates from the family saw mill, iron and shipping business of Antti Ahlström established in 1851. The company focused on pulp
, paper and timber production and machinery, later expanding to glassworks (Iittala
and Karhula).
Ahlstrom's paper production began in Varkaus
in 1921 on Europe's largest paper production machine. By the beginning of the 1930s, Ahlstrom had grown into Finland's largest industrial conglomerate.
The outbreak of World War II led the company to convert much of its production to support the Finnish war effort. Following the war, the company played a major role in Finland's reconstruction and in its war reparations obligation. Ahlstrom alone accounted for nearly 15 percent of the country's total reparations. The company continued to expand into the 1950s, stepping up its engineering operations while also expanding into chemical wood processing technology.
Ahlstrom Corporation began to rapidly grow internationally in 1963, by acquiring a majority interest in a paper mill in Mathi
close to Turin
, Italy
, that produced filter paper
s and rifle cartridge paper. This was the first significant international acquisition made by a Finnish company and made Ahlstrom a pioneer among major Finnish companies in internationalization.
The town of Varkaus
grew up around the A. Ahlström paper mills. In the 1930s, the Sunila Plant in Karhula (now Kotka
), designed by Alvar Aalto
, was built by Ahlström. In the 1980s, in a large swap of facilities, the Varkaus works were handed over to Enso Gutzeit (now Stora Enso
).
During the 1980s, Ahlstrom left the newsprint and magazine paper market and focused its operations on specialty papers. One of the most profound decisions in Finnish industrial history was made in 1987, when Ahlstrom unexpectedly sold its paper-producing units. Leaving newsprint production increased the relative value of Ahlstrom's specialty paper and engineering units.
In the 1990s, Ahlstrom expanded its focus to include nonwoven products. At the end of 1996, Ahlstrom Corporation continued its expansion by acquiring the French specialty paper and nonwovens producer Sibille-Dalle. During that same year, Ahlstrom Corporation established the Ahlstrom Paper Group to encompass the company’s fiber-based materials operations.
In 2000, Ahlstrom acquired Dexter Corporation's nonwovens production facilities in the United States, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Today, Ahlstrom is among the largest Nordic companies. The Ahlström family are still significant shareholders in the Ahlstrom Corporation.
In 2001, the group split into three companies. The manufacturing divisions were transferred to the now public Ahlstrom Corporation. Ahlstrom Capital Oy was established as a private investment company. And A.Ahlstrom Osakeyhtio was established as a private forestry and real estate management company.
In October 2005, Professor Johan Erik Gullichsen, chairman of Ahlstrom Corporation, was inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame for his innovations in the processing of pulp fiber suspensions at medium consistency.
Ahlstrom Corporation reorganized the responsibilities of its Executive Management Team effective January 1, 2009.
Tommi Björnman is Executive Vice President of the Filtration business area.
Laura Raitio is Executive Vice President of the Building and Energy business area.
Jean-Marie Becker is Executive Vice President, Home and Personal Nonwovens.
Daniele Borlatto is Executive Vice President, Label and Processing.
The Food and Medical Business Area is led by William Casey.
Rami Raulas is Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing.
Paula Aarnio is Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Sustainability.
Seppo Parvi is Chief Financial Officer.
Luc Rousselet is Executive Vice President, Supply Chain.
Paul Stenson is Executive Vice President, Business Development.
In December, 2008, Jan Lang was appointed as the new President and CEO.
Ahlstrom moved part of the operations of its facility in Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania to Bishopville, South Carolina
in 2007. About 70 jobs were lost in Pennsylvania.
In late 2006, Argonide licensed to Ahlstrom the rights to manufacture, market and sell filter media as roll stock under the trade name of Disruptor.
On March 30, 2007, Ahlstrom signed an agreement to acquire the consumer wipes business of Fiberweb plc. Following the acquisition, Ahlstrom became the third largest producer of nonwoven roll goods globally.
The acquired business included four plants located in Europe (Alicante
, Spain; Mozzate
, Italy; Carbonate
, Italy) and in the USA (Bethune, SC). In 2006, the net sales of the acquired business amounted to EUR 110 million and it employed approximately 400 people. The wiping fabrics currently produced by Fiberweb's consumer wipes business are used mainly in personal care, baby care and household wipes applications. Ahlstrom closed the deal on May 25, 2007.
On February 1, 2008, Ahlstrom announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire Friend Group Inc., which consists of West Carrollton Parchment Company and West Carrollton Converting Company. The Group is a producer of vegetable parchment and has parchmentizing and converting operations located in West Carrollton, Ohio, USA. The transaction was completed in March 2008.
The new entity was integrated into Ahlstrom's vegetable parchment product line, which is part of the Food and Medical business area currently operating two sites manufacturing vegetable parchment in France and serving customers globally.
Ahlstrom announced on September 14, 2010 that it has completed the acquisition of Shandong Puri Filter & Paper Products Limited in China from the Purico Group.
Shandong Puri Filter & Paper Products Limited is a producer of transportation filtration
media and operates a plant in Binzhou in the province of Shandong in northeastern China.
The site currently employs 170 persons. The debt free transaction value is MEUR 22.5.
On October 28, 2010, Ahlstrom announced that a joint venture agreement was signed with Longkou Yulong Paper Company Ltd, to establish a new manufacturing facility by 2012 in Longkou China for production of medical papers and masking tape.
On December 3, 2010, Ahlstrom signed an agreement to exit its Sealing & Shielding business unit through the sale of Ahlstrom Altenkirchen GmbH in Germany. The acquirer is Interface Solutions, a portfolio company of Pennsylvania-based family owned private equity fund Susquehanna Capital.
On December 7, 2010, Ahlstrom announced the sale of its Wuxi plant in China and 3 production lines in Bethune, SC to Andrew Industries.
On December 16, 2010, Ahlstrom announced the sale of its filtration business located in Groesbeck Texas, to Polyester Fibers, a portfolio company of private investment firm Empire Investment Holdings.
Ahlstrom Corporation, a global high performance materials company signed an agreement on August 4, 2011 to divest its wipes fabrics business area, Home and Personal, to Suominen Corporation, a Finnish publicly listed company. The total value of the transaction is approximately EUR 170 million.
Helsinki Stock Exchange
The Helsinki Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003 it has been part of OMX, referred to as OMX Helsinki . Since NASDAQ's acquisition of OMX in February 2008, the official name of the Helsinki exchange has been NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.- History :The...
since March 2006. Registered trademarks include Disruptor nano-fiber based water filter media using electrokinetic absorption and mechanical entrapment; Trinitex activated carbon air and water filter media; Cytosep solid phase blood plasma filer media; and Hydraspun wetlaid, hydroentangled wipes media combining natural and synthetic fibers without latex binders.
History
Ahlstrom has its roots in FinlandFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
: the founder, Antti Ahlström
Antti Ahlström
Antti Ahlström founded the Ahlstrom Corporation. He was one of Finland's most influential and wealthy 19th century businessmen...
, was one of Finland's most prominent 19th century businessmen. Ahlstrom was started in 1908, and originates from the family saw mill, iron and shipping business of Antti Ahlström established in 1851. The company focused on pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...
, paper and timber production and machinery, later expanding to glassworks (Iittala
Iittala
Iittala is a Finnish design company specialising in houseware objects made on the principle of "modern Scandinavian design". [N.B. The official logo of the Company is all in lower case - iittala. Using upper case for the initial i can cause some confusion as it may be mistaken for an L.] The Iittala...
and Karhula).
Ahlstrom's paper production began in Varkaus
Varkaus
Varkaus is a Middle-Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .The municipality is...
in 1921 on Europe's largest paper production machine. By the beginning of the 1930s, Ahlstrom had grown into Finland's largest industrial conglomerate.
The outbreak of World War II led the company to convert much of its production to support the Finnish war effort. Following the war, the company played a major role in Finland's reconstruction and in its war reparations obligation. Ahlstrom alone accounted for nearly 15 percent of the country's total reparations. The company continued to expand into the 1950s, stepping up its engineering operations while also expanding into chemical wood processing technology.
Ahlstrom Corporation began to rapidly grow internationally in 1963, by acquiring a majority interest in a paper mill in Mathi
Mathi
Mathi is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 25 km northwest of Turin.Mathi borders the following municipalities: Corio, Balangero, Grosso, Cafasse, and Villanova Canavese....
close to Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, that produced filter paper
Filter paper
Filter paper is a semi-permeable paper barrier placed perpendicular to a liquid or air flow. It is used to separate fine solids from liquids or air.-Properties:Filter paper comes in various porosities and grades depending on the applications it is meant for...
s and rifle cartridge paper. This was the first significant international acquisition made by a Finnish company and made Ahlstrom a pioneer among major Finnish companies in internationalization.
The town of Varkaus
Varkaus
Varkaus is a Middle-Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .The municipality is...
grew up around the A. Ahlström paper mills. In the 1930s, the Sunila Plant in Karhula (now Kotka
Kotka
Kotka is a town and municipality of Finland. Its former name is Rochensalm.Kotka is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of Kymi River and it is part of the Kymenlaakso region in southern Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water....
), designed by Alvar Aalto
Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware...
, was built by Ahlström. In the 1980s, in a large swap of facilities, the Varkaus works were handed over to Enso Gutzeit (now Stora Enso
Stora Enso
Stora Enso Oyj is a Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer, formed by the merger of Swedish mining and forestry products company Stora and Finnish forestry products company Enso-Gutzeit Oy in 1998. It is headquartered in Helsinki, and it has approximately 29,000 employees...
).
During the 1980s, Ahlstrom left the newsprint and magazine paper market and focused its operations on specialty papers. One of the most profound decisions in Finnish industrial history was made in 1987, when Ahlstrom unexpectedly sold its paper-producing units. Leaving newsprint production increased the relative value of Ahlstrom's specialty paper and engineering units.
In the 1990s, Ahlstrom expanded its focus to include nonwoven products. At the end of 1996, Ahlstrom Corporation continued its expansion by acquiring the French specialty paper and nonwovens producer Sibille-Dalle. During that same year, Ahlstrom Corporation established the Ahlstrom Paper Group to encompass the company’s fiber-based materials operations.
In 2000, Ahlstrom acquired Dexter Corporation's nonwovens production facilities in the United States, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Today, Ahlstrom is among the largest Nordic companies. The Ahlström family are still significant shareholders in the Ahlstrom Corporation.
In 2001, the group split into three companies. The manufacturing divisions were transferred to the now public Ahlstrom Corporation. Ahlstrom Capital Oy was established as a private investment company. And A.Ahlstrom Osakeyhtio was established as a private forestry and real estate management company.
In October 2005, Professor Johan Erik Gullichsen, chairman of Ahlstrom Corporation, was inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame for his innovations in the processing of pulp fiber suspensions at medium consistency.
Ahlstrom Corporation reorganized the responsibilities of its Executive Management Team effective January 1, 2009.
Tommi Björnman is Executive Vice President of the Filtration business area.
Laura Raitio is Executive Vice President of the Building and Energy business area.
Jean-Marie Becker is Executive Vice President, Home and Personal Nonwovens.
Daniele Borlatto is Executive Vice President, Label and Processing.
The Food and Medical Business Area is led by William Casey.
Rami Raulas is Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing.
Paula Aarnio is Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Sustainability.
Seppo Parvi is Chief Financial Officer.
Luc Rousselet is Executive Vice President, Supply Chain.
Paul Stenson is Executive Vice President, Business Development.
In December, 2008, Jan Lang was appointed as the new President and CEO.
International operations
In April 2004 Ahlstrom and The Sonoco Corporation announced plans to combine their paperboard-core units in Europe.Ahlstrom moved part of the operations of its facility in Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania to Bishopville, South Carolina
Bishopville, South Carolina
Bishopville is a city in Lee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,670 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lee County.-Geography:Bishopville is located at ....
in 2007. About 70 jobs were lost in Pennsylvania.
In late 2006, Argonide licensed to Ahlstrom the rights to manufacture, market and sell filter media as roll stock under the trade name of Disruptor.
On March 30, 2007, Ahlstrom signed an agreement to acquire the consumer wipes business of Fiberweb plc. Following the acquisition, Ahlstrom became the third largest producer of nonwoven roll goods globally.
The acquired business included four plants located in Europe (Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, Spain; Mozzate
Mozzate
Mozzate is a comune in the southwestern part of the province of Como, Lombardy, northern Italy.It has an area of 10,36 km² and 7,505 inhabitants . The postal code of Mozzate is 22076, and the telephone code is 0331....
, Italy; Carbonate
Carbonate
In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, . The name may also mean an ester of carbonic acid, an organic compound containing the carbonate group C2....
, Italy) and in the USA (Bethune, SC). In 2006, the net sales of the acquired business amounted to EUR 110 million and it employed approximately 400 people. The wiping fabrics currently produced by Fiberweb's consumer wipes business are used mainly in personal care, baby care and household wipes applications. Ahlstrom closed the deal on May 25, 2007.
On February 1, 2008, Ahlstrom announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire Friend Group Inc., which consists of West Carrollton Parchment Company and West Carrollton Converting Company. The Group is a producer of vegetable parchment and has parchmentizing and converting operations located in West Carrollton, Ohio, USA. The transaction was completed in March 2008.
The new entity was integrated into Ahlstrom's vegetable parchment product line, which is part of the Food and Medical business area currently operating two sites manufacturing vegetable parchment in France and serving customers globally.
Ahlstrom announced on September 14, 2010 that it has completed the acquisition of Shandong Puri Filter & Paper Products Limited in China from the Purico Group.
Shandong Puri Filter & Paper Products Limited is a producer of transportation filtration
media and operates a plant in Binzhou in the province of Shandong in northeastern China.
The site currently employs 170 persons. The debt free transaction value is MEUR 22.5.
On October 28, 2010, Ahlstrom announced that a joint venture agreement was signed with Longkou Yulong Paper Company Ltd, to establish a new manufacturing facility by 2012 in Longkou China for production of medical papers and masking tape.
On December 3, 2010, Ahlstrom signed an agreement to exit its Sealing & Shielding business unit through the sale of Ahlstrom Altenkirchen GmbH in Germany. The acquirer is Interface Solutions, a portfolio company of Pennsylvania-based family owned private equity fund Susquehanna Capital.
On December 7, 2010, Ahlstrom announced the sale of its Wuxi plant in China and 3 production lines in Bethune, SC to Andrew Industries.
On December 16, 2010, Ahlstrom announced the sale of its filtration business located in Groesbeck Texas, to Polyester Fibers, a portfolio company of private investment firm Empire Investment Holdings.
Ahlstrom Corporation, a global high performance materials company signed an agreement on August 4, 2011 to divest its wipes fabrics business area, Home and Personal, to Suominen Corporation, a Finnish publicly listed company. The total value of the transaction is approximately EUR 170 million.
Members of the Board of Directors of Ahlstrom
- Peter Seligson, Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Pertti Korhonen, Vice Chairman
- Lori Cross, Member
- Sebastian Bondestam, Member
- Esa Ikaheimonen, Member
- Thomas Ahlström, Member
- Anders Moberg, Member
See also
- Ahlström-Gullichsen familyAhlström-Gullichsen familyThe Ahlström family is a Finnish family of industrialists, designers and artists. They are known for being the founding family behind the Ahlstrom Corporation and for their cooperation with Alvar Aalto-Notable members:...
- List of Finnish companies
- List of oldest companies
- Stora EnsoStora EnsoStora Enso Oyj is a Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer, formed by the merger of Swedish mining and forestry products company Stora and Finnish forestry products company Enso-Gutzeit Oy in 1998. It is headquartered in Helsinki, and it has approximately 29,000 employees...