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Orkla is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions and financial investment sectors. The company's strategic focus is on growth in its branded consumer goods operations. The group has 30,000 employees in more than 40 countries and a turnover of NOK 61 billion.
Orkla started out in 1654 with pyrite mining at Løkken Verk in Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Later the company also started mining copper, but the copper mining was abandoned in 1845. In 1904 Orkla Grube-Aktiebolag was founded by Christian Thams to start commercial mining at Løkken Verk, including the construction of Thamshavnbanen, the first electric railway in Norway, between Løkken Verk and Thamshavn. This railway is still operated as a museum railway after the mining operations at Løkken Verk were closed on 10 July 1987.
In 1929, Orkla became listed on Oslo Stock Exchange and in 1931 the new smelting plant at Thamshavn outside Orkanger is opened. By 1941 Orkla started with a separate investments portfolio, and opened offices in Oslo in 1975. In 1984 Orkla started a major takeover of Norwegian newspapers, creating Orkla Media as one of the three largest media companies in Norway. Half of the magazine publisher Egmont-Mortensen is added to Orkla Media in 1992 and the Danish Det Berlingske Officin[2] in 2000. Orkla sold the media section to Mecom in 2006.[3]
In 1986 Orkla merged with Borregaard based in Sarpsborg to form Orkla Borregaard. The company then merged with Nora Industrier in 1992. Borregaard was spun off and introduced to the Oslo Stock Exchange in October 2012, with Orkla retaining a minority stake in the company.[4] Orkla heavily invests in foods and among others acquired Swedish brewery Pripps as well as other companies including Abba Seafood, Baltic Beverages Holding and Procordia Food. Norwegian Ringnes and Pripps were merged with Carlsberg Breweries, where Orkla acquires a 40% ownership in 2000. Orkla sold its ownership in Carlsberg in 2004, the same year it buys SladCo.
In 2005 Orkla bought the Norwegian material company Elkem and Sapa Group in Sweden. In 2010 Orkla bought the Estonian confectionery company Kalev. At the beginning of 2013 Orkla owns «Слад&Ко» (SladCo), «Фабрика имени Крупской» (Fabrika imeni Krupskoy), «Конфи» (Konfi), «Волжанка» (Volzhanka), «Пекарь» (Pekar), «Азарт» (Azart) confectionery brands through Orkla brands Russia. It is known to be the fifth largest confectionery producer in Russia.[5]
