HELSINKI: Finland’s Valmet has extended its operations on a broader scale after confirming the acquisition of the process automation business of Metso in early April.
Announced in mid-January, the acquisition saw the supplier of technologies for the pulp, paper and energy industries cough up 340 million euros for roughly 1,500 employees and 300 million euros in annual revenue, bringing its number of Finnish employees up by some 900 to 4,600.
Valmet enjoyed a bullish start to life on the Helsinki Stock Exchange following its divestment from Metso early last year. Its shares increased in value, its profitability improved in all quarters, its net sales picked up and it was able to snatch contracts from under the nose of its competitors. The most positive surprise, however, was how a number of its employees indicated that concentrating on certain core functions was easier at Valmet than as part of the Metso conglomerate, highlights to Laine.
His comment is laden with some deliberate modesty, for the roots of Valmet run deep in history. The post-war story of the technology provider, which began its journey as the Vyborg Shipyard already in the 1750s, reflects the industrial history of Finland closely.
