Arcus AS was

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

's largest

wholesaler Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

and

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

. It was created when it was demerged from the

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

wine and liquor retailer

Vinmonopolet Vinmonopolet (), symbolized by Ⓥ and colloquially shortened to Polet, is a government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer and the only company allowed to sell beverages containing an alcohol content higher than 4.75% in Norway. As the arm of the ...

on January 1, 1996. The retailing operations were kept in Vinmonopolet; import, export, production, and storage were transferred to Arcus. In July 2001 the

Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry () was a Norwegian ministry responsible for business, trade and industry. It was first created in 1916, as the Ministry of Trade (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Shipping and Industry). It ...

sold 66% of the company to Sucra. Sucra were also in 2001 granted an option to purchase the rest of the company, which they did in 2003. In 2005 Sucra sold Arcus to the Swedish investment company

Ratos Ratos Aktiebolag, AB (portmanteau for Ragnar and Torsten Söderberg) is a Sweden, Swedish private equity company founded in 1934 and still controlled by the Söderberg family. Ratos is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. History The Söderber ...

, including the partial ownership of Braastad. In 2012 Danish Distillers (Aalborg Taffel, etc.,

Gammel Dansk Gammel Dansk is a bitters (herbal alcoholic preparation) produced by Arcus-Gruppen in Oslo, Norway, originally developed and produced by Danish Distillers in Denmark. Traditionally it is drunk by Danes at certain festive occasions, often in conn ...

) was bought from

Pernod Ricard Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or '' Ricard''). The world's second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...

. But the akvavit brand Brøndums snaps, which was a brand of Danish Distillers since a merger in 1893, had to be divested because of the dominant position of Danish Distillers in the Danish market. This akvavit brand was sold to Finnish distillers

Altia Altia Oyj was a Finnish state-owned corporation based in Helsinki, which produces, imports, exports and markets alcoholic beverages. It operates in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia. Altia has production plants in Koskenkorva ...

. The factory in

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

closed April 2015 when production of the ''Aalborg'' brands was moved to Norway. Arcus has both storage of beverages from when it was demerged as well as recipes from Vinmonopolet, some of which date back a long time, including the recipes taken over from the purchase of Løitens Brænderi in 1927. Arcus was listed on the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange () (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway's only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, derivatives and fixed ...

in December 2016. Arcus was the largest player in the Norwegian wine market, the second largest in Sweden, and number five in Finlan

Arcus merged with

in 2021 to form Anora Group.

Arcus wine companies in Sweden

The Wineagency Quaffable Wines Valid Wines Vinunic

Arcus wine companies in Norway

Arcus Wine Brands Symposium Wines Heyday Wines AS Vinordia Excellars Hedoni Wines

Arcus wine companies in Finland

WineWorld Finland Social Wines Finland Vinum Import Vinunic

Brands

* Aalborg Taffel * Amundsen Arctic Vodka * Arendalsaquavit * Bergens Aquavit * Braastad Cognac *

* Gammel Opland * Gilde Aquavit * Golden Cock * Hammer Vodka * Jægersborg Aquavit * Kalinka 22 * LINIE * Lysholm No52 * Løiten * Morsa Aquavit * Royal Castle * Vikingfjord Vodka Arcus is also an importer of wine.

References

{{reflist Wholesalers of Norway Formerly government-owned companies of Norway Companies based in Akershus Companies established in 1996 Companies formerly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange Companies formerly listed on Nasdaq Helsinki