FLSmidth

FLSmidth & Co. A/S is a Danish multinational engineering company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. With over 10,000 employees worldwide, it provides global cement and mineral industries with factories, machinery, services and know-how. FLSmidth is listed on NASDAQ OMX Nordic Copenhagen (the former Copenhagen Stock Exchange) in the C20 index and has offices in more than 50 countries worldwide.

History

FLSmidth and Co. A/S was founded in Copenhagen on 2 January 1882 by Frederik Læssøe Smidth ( da). It was initially a consultancy business whose main focus was to purchase machinery and build small machines for local craftsmen. Within a few years the firm, called “Technical Bureau” at the time, specialised in machinery for the brick and tile industry. In 1887 two engineers, Poul Larsen and Alexander Foss, were made partners and the company name was changed to F.L.Smidth & Co. In 1887, the first FLSmidth cement plant was built near Limhamn in Sweden. The company grew and in 1890 the first international office opened in London. Offices in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Peking (Beijing) and other major cities followed. In 1957, F.L.Smidth machinery accounted for 40 percent of all cement production in the world.

Over the years, the company has expanded with non-core activities and in 1989 the entire FLSmidth Group consisted of some 125 companies within areas such as cement engineering, plastic, aerospace and cement building materials. Throughout the 1990s, product companies such as Pfister, Ventomatic and MAAG Gear were acquired.

In 1990, the Group acquired Fuller Company and established the F.L.Smidth-Fuller Engineering Group. Two minerals processing divisions, Fuller Mineral Processing and FLSmidth Mineral Processing, were set up in FLSmidth and Fuller. In 1997, the company was named FFE Minerals after merging the two separate minerals divisions into one single company.

FLS Miljø developed a process with Supercritical carbon dioxide to dissolve and carry organic wood preservative into timber, an alternative to polluting Chromated copper arsenate (CCA).

As FLS Miljø was closed in 2004, some of the employees later contributed to a similar process to remove cork tainting 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) from wine corks.

In the beginning of the 21st century the Group began to continuously sell off non-core activities.

On 2 April 2007, FFE Minerals acquired Rahco International, Inc. In May 2007, FFE Minerals was renamed FLSmidth Minerals and on 10 August 2007, FLSmidth acquired GL&V Process, the largest acquisition the company has ever made enabling it to gain a strong foothold in the global copper industry.

In May and October 2008, FLSmidth acquired Pneumapress Inc. and CEntry, an engineering consultancy based in Utah.

In 2009, FLSmidth acquired Conveyor Engineering Inc. and EEL India Limited on 1 March 2009 and 28 July 2009 respectively. These acquisitions gave FLSmidth a know-how in design and supply of major bulk material handling systems for cement, mining, heavy industrial facilities and bagging equipment worldwide.

The year 2011 saw FLSmidth acquiring some major minerals and cement companies like ESSA Australia Limited on 17 February 2011, Phillips Kiln Service Ltd on 18 August 2011 and Transweigh India Ltd on 20 October 2011.

On 3 July 2012, FLSmidth completed the acquisition of the Australian engineering and equipment supply company Ludowici Limited, a provider of coal centrifuges, vibrating screens and complementary wear resistant products and services for the minerals industries.

In 2012, FLSmidth acquired Decanter Machine, Inc., a United States-based manufacturer and supplier of centrifugal technology to the global minerals industries (August), TEUTRINE GmbH Industrie-Technik, a German company specialised in mobile solutions for repairs, refurbishments and installation services (September) and Australian service companies MIE Enterprises Pty Ltd. and Mayer Bulk Pty Ltd. that provide construction, commissioning, maintenance and repair services.

In line with its heightened focus on core businesses areas such as cement and minerals, FLSmidth divested the capital sales of lime kilns and recausticizing equipment for use in white liquor plants in the pulp and paper industry. The business was divested to Metso Paper Sweden AB by means of a license agreement. The licence was perpetual and exclusive in relation to FLSmidth.

Acquisition history

Core business and Group strategy

Over the past decade FLSmidth has developed from a diversified conglomerate into a specialised and focused business group supported by two business segments, Cement and Minerals.

Anticipating a huge growth in Minerals, FLSmidth launched its new Group Strategy in February 2012 which was designed to support and grow its potential.

As a consequence of the new Group Strategy, FLSmidth was now structured in four divisions: Customer Services, Material Handling, Mineral Processing and Cement.

However, following a strategy health-check, FLSmidth decided to change its organisational structure. As of 1 January 2015, FLSmidth stands organised in four divisions - two project divisions, a product division and a service division. The two former divisions Material Handling and Mineral Processing were merged into one Minerals division. Cement and Customer Services will be maintained as separate divisions. A new Product Companies division was created to foster growth of FLSmidth's product brands. This new division will serve FLSmidth's six key industries, the Minerals and Cement divisions as well as adjacent industries.

References

{{OMX Copenhagen 20 companies

Companies listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen
Construction and civil engineering companies of Denmark
Companies based in Copenhagen
Companies based in Copenhagen Municipality
Danish companies established in 1882
Danish brands
Multinational companies headquartered in Denmark
Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1882