Kværner

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Kværner was a Norwegian engineering and construction services company that existed between 1853 and 2005.

During its initial decades, the firm was involved in the manufacture of cast iron stoves and hydroelectric turbines. The turbine business was Kværner's leading product throughout the first half of the twentieth century, although it had also branched out into the production of bridges, cranes, and pumps. Kværner underwent a spree of international acquisitions during the 1990s, which included Govan Shipbuilders, Götaverken, Trafalgar House, Vyborg Shipyard; its headquarters were also relocated from Oslo to London during this decade. The heavy debt burden built up by acquiring these businesses, some of which were actually unprofitable, jeopardised the company's continued existence by the start of the twenty-first century.

Efforts to stabilise the company included the selling off of Cunard Line and its construction division, as well as the receipt of financial support from senior figures within the Russian oil company Yukos. In order to avoid bankruptcy however, Kværner was compelled to merge with its long time rival Aker ASA. During 2004, Kværner was amalgamated into the newly formed subsidiary of Aker ASA - Aker Kværner, which was renamed Aker Solutions on 3 April 2008.

On 6 May 2011, Kværner re-emerged when the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) part of Aker Solutions took the Kværner name. The new Kværner company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 8 July 2011.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> During 2020 however, Aker Solutions opted to restructure and merge with Kvaerner.

History

Kvaerner Brug was founded in Oslo in 1853 by industrialist Oluf A. Onsum (1820-1899). Early on, the primary activity of the business was its involvement in the production of cast iron stoves. In 1870, Kvaerner built its first hydroelectric turbine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the early 1900s, Kvaerner power turbines remained the principal product line, which also included bridges, cranes, and pumps. Kvaerner was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 1967. By the 1990s, the company assembled a collection of engineering and industrial businesses, including shipbuilding, construction of offshore oil and gas platforms, production of pulping and paper manufacturing equipment, and operation of a shipping fleet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Directors-general of Kværner after the stock exchange listing were Kjell B. Langballe (1960–1976), Carl Røtjer (1976–1986) and Mikal H. Grønner (1986–1989). Chairmen were Frithjof A. Lind (–1982), Johan B. Holte (1982–1985), Emil Eriksrud (1985–1986), Carl Røtjer (1986–1989), Kaspar Kielland (1989-1996), and then Christian Bjelland (1996-2001). Since 2011, the CEO has been Jan Arve Haugan.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Erik Tønseth became director-general of Kværner in 1989, and under his leadership the company underwent large-scale international expansion, acquiring the state-owned Govan Shipbuilders from British Shipbuilders.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During 1992, Kværner acquired the Swedish company Götaverken. In 1996, Kværner acquired the British conglomerate Trafalgar House, after which it moved its international headquarters from Oslo to London.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During January 1996, Kvaerner purchased a stake in the Vyborg Shipyard (Template:Langx) and renamed it Kverner-Vyborg Shipyard (Template:Langx) which was the largest manufacturer of offshore installations in Russia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also during the mid 1990s, Kvaerner expanded its footprint in the Indonesian market, including through the formation of Kvaerner Bakrie Engineering in late 1995.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The company's expansive acquisitions quickly brought economic hardship to the company. Kjell Almskog became Kværner's CEO in 1998, and implemented various plans to streamline the company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This included the sale of the Cunard Line (a division of Trafalgar House) to Carnival Corporation,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the sale of Kvaerner Govan to BAE Systems<ref>https://www.chriscunard.com/qe2/qe2-history/ QE2 History | Cunard Archives, Trafalgar House Expansion and Decline.</ref> and the sale of Chemrec to Babcock Borsig. On 10 March 2000, Kvaerner sold the Vyborg Shipyard, which was losing money and faced closure during 1999, to the Sergey Zavyalov (Template:Langx) associated with early 1990s established Ako Barss Group (Template:Langx) which sold the shipyard to Rossiya Bank owners who placed the shipyard in the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2000, Kværner sold its Construction Division to the Swedish company Skanska.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The economic slowdown in 2001 coupled with the firm's heavy debt burden and a series of management missteps brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy. Hugo Erikssen, a director of public relations at Yukos, and Oleg Sheiko (Template:Langx), Yukos' vice president for finance, and Alexey Golubovich (Template:Langx), who was Yukos' "director of corporate finance" until 2001, supported Kværner with mergers and financing.<ref>Template:Cite news Alt URL Translated at inosmi.ru from "Le Temps"Template:Dead link on 21 June 2002.</ref>Template:Efn

During the early 2000s, Kværner was approached multiple times by its long time rival Aker ASA, a Norwegian oil services group controlled by Kjell Inge Røkke.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During November 2001, in order to avoid bankruptcy, Kværner was compelled to merge with Aker.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Røkke scuppered the solution preferred by Kværner's management, which was a rescue by Yukos. Kværner's international headquarters returned to Oslo and Kværner was restructured to become a holding company, with operating activities concentrated in Aker Kværner and Aker Yards. During 2005, Kværner ASA was merged with Aker Maritime Finance AS, a wholly owned company of Aker ASA, as a result of which the Kværner corporation ceased to exist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During 2008, Aker Kvaerner changed its name to Aker Solutions ASA. In December 2010, Aker Solutions announced a decision to cultivate its core businesses; consequently, Kvaerner was established, through a demerger, as a specialised EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) company addressing the global market. On 6 May 2011, the shareholders' annual general meeting approved the establishment of Kvaerner as a separate company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2015, it commenced fabrication of a 26,500 tonne steel jacket, the largest in Europe, for the Johan Sverdrup partnership.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Subsequently, Kvarner was awarded additional work on this scheme.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In September 2019, the company announced their plans to target renewable growth and that it was looking to expand its operations in renewable energy to help boost this growth by around 40% in the coming years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> One month later, it signed a contract valued at NOK 1.5 billion for Hywind Tampen, the world's largest floating offshore wind farm.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Separately, the company entered into a strategic collaboration with Nel ASA on green hydrogen projects, including the prospective development of large scale hydrogen production plants.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During July 2020, Aker Solutions announced major restructuring plans, centering on its merger with Kvaerner and the spinning off of its wind development and carbon capture and storage businesses into two separate Oslo listed entities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Kvaerner website Template:Webarchive