Ahlstrom Oyj (Former Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj) is a manufacturer of fiber-based products.
Renewable fibers represent about 95% of Ahlstrom's total fiber use.
Ahlstrom operates in Europe, North and South America as well as in Asia. Most production sites are located in Europe. The head office is located in Helsinki, Finland.
Ahlstrom's customers represent several industries, including
automotive,
furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
,
construction
Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...
,
healthcare
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
and
life science
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, respon ...
,
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...
and
beverage
A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...
and
energy
Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...
sectors.
The company has some 7,000 employees worldwide and 37 production or converting facilities in 13 countries. The company's net sales in 2023 amounted to EUR 3.0 billion.
The company is led by Helen Mets, President and CEO.
History
1862-2016
Munksjö
The creation of the Munksjö paper mill in 1862 was due to a chance meeting of two men: Janne Lundström, an inventor and industrialist from Jönköping, and Lars Johan Hierta, a prominent financier, publisher and politician.
Ahlstrom
Ahlstrom has its roots in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
: the founder,
Antti Ahlström, was one of Finland's most prominent 19th-century businessmen. The company was founded in 1851 and timber trading, shipping, and sawmill operations started to grow. The company focused on
pulp,
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
and timber production and machinery, later expanding to glassworks (
Iittala and
Karhula).
Ahlstrom's paper production began in
Varkaus
Varkaus, before 1929 known as Warkaus, 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, between the city of Kuopio and the town of ...
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
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, that produced
filter paper
Filter paper is a semi-permeable paper barrier placed perpendicular to a liquid or air flow. It is used to separate fine solid particles from liquids or gases.
The raw materials are typically different pulp (paper), paper pulps. The pulp may be ...
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, before 1929 known as Warkaus, 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, between the city of Kuopio and the town of ...
grew up around the A. Ahlström paper mills. In the 1930s, the Sunila Plant in
Karhula (now
Kotka
Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...
), designed by
Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...
, 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
Nonwoven fabric or non-woven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fibre (short) and long fibres (continuous long), bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The term is used in the textile manufacturing in ...
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.
Recently, 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
Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...
for his innovations in the processing of pulp fiber suspensions at medium consistency.
In 2012, Ahlstrom Corporation announced that its Label and Processing business area will be combined with Munksjö Group.
In 2016, Ahlstrom Corporation and Munksjö Oyj announced a plan to merge the two companies.
2017-10/2022
Ahlstrom-Munksjö
In 2017, Ahlstrom sold its Osnabruck, Germany plant to Kammerer.
The completion of the merger of Ahlstrom Corporation into Munksjö Oyj was registered with the Finnish Trade Register on 1 April 2017. Following the completion of the merger, the name of the combined company has changed to Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj (“Ahlstrom-Munksjö”). Trading in the new Ahlstrom-Munksjö shares issued to Ahlstrom's shareholders as merger consideration commenced 1 April 2017 on the Nasdaq Helsinki (trading code: AM1) and Nasdaq Stockholm (trading code: AM1S) stock exchanges.
[Ahlstrom-Munksjö merger completed , EUWID Pulp and Paper (euwid-paper.com)](_blank)
/ref>
In 2018, Ahlstrom-Munksjö acquired U.S. based Expera Specialty Solutions and Brazilian Caieiras specialty paper mill.Bain Capital
Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...
as well as Viknum and Belgrano Inversiones completed a tender offer for all shares in Ahlstrom-Munksjö. Ahlstrom-Munksjö became a privately held company (Ahlstrom-Munksjö Holding) and its shares were delisted from Nasdaq Helsinki and Nasdaq Stockholm.
11/2022-now
Ahlstrom
In 2022, Ahlstrom-Munksjö divested its Decor business to a newly formed Swedish company named Munksjö AB.
Business areas
Ahlstrom manages a broad platform of businesses, focusing on three divisions: Filtration & Life Sciences, Food & Consumer Packaging, Protective Materials.
Global operations
Ahlstrom products are developed and produced in 13 countries, with 35 plants
See also
* Ahlström — Gullichsen family
* Forest industry in Finland
* List of Finnish companies
Finland is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. It was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare s ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlstrom-Munksjö
Companies established in 1851
Finnish brands
Pulp and paper companies of Finland
Manufacturing companies based in Helsinki
Textile companies of Finland
1851 establishments in the Russian Empire
Companies formerly listed on Nasdaq Helsinki
Bain Capital companies