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Aker Solutions

Coordinates: 59°53′50.46″N 10°37′39.98″E / 59.8973500°N 10.6277722°E / 59.8973500; 10.6277722
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Aker Solutions ASA
Company typeAllmennaksjeselskap
OSE: AKSO
IndustryOilfield services Engineering
PredecessorAker Mechanical Workshop (1841)
Founded
  • Aker Solutions (2008)
  • Aker Kværner (2004)
  • Kværner Brug (1853)
  • Aker Mechanical Workshop (1841)
HeadquartersFornebu, Norway
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
RevenueNOK 22,461 million (2017)[1]
NOK 571 million (2017)[1]
1,179,000,000 Norwegian krone (2022) Edit this on Wikidata
Total assetsNOK 19,736 million (2017)[1]
Number of employees
6,000
ParentAker ASA
Websitewww.akersolutions.com Edit this at Wikidata

Aker Solutions ASA engineers and builds energy infrastructure while providing products and consultancy services to low-carbon and renewable energy projects. Based in Oslo, the company's offerings to the energy industry include the systems and services required to de-carbonize oil and gas production, build wind-to-grid infrastructure and engineer CO2 capture and sequestration.[citation needed]

Founded in 1841 as Akers Mekaniske Verksted, the company has been called Aker, Aker Kvaerner and Aker Solutions (2008). In 2020, the company announced a merger with Kværner ASA. In 2023, the company trades on the Oslo stock exchange under the symbol 'AKSO'.

Aker Kværner was founded in 2004 from the major restructuring of a complex "Aker Kværner" business unit formed in 2002 by the merger of Aker Maritime and Kværner Oil & Gas. On 3 April 2008, Aker Kværner was renamed Aker Solutions in part due to the difficulty non-Scandinavians found in pronouncing "Kværner".

The company was majority controlled by Aker ASA until 2007. Then, via major ownership restructuring on 22 June 2007, Aker ASA gave up its holding in Aker Solutions and transferred a 40% stake to Aker Holding,[2] which in turn was owned by Aker ASA (60%), the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry (30%), SAAB (7.5%) and Investor AB (2.5%).[3]

History

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Aker Solutions derives from a series of start-ups and mergers brought into being by Norwegian companies of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Evolution of Aker Kvaerner: 1841 to 2002

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The timeline below summarizes the main events leading to the foundation of Aker Kvaerner —from its origins as Aker Mechanical Workshop (1841) — until the merger of Aker Maritime with Kværner Oil & Gas to form Aker Kvaerner in 2002 .

  • Timeline
    • 1841: Aker establishes its first workshop along the Aker river in Oslo and calls it Aker Mechanical Workshop (Aker Mekaniske Verksted)
    • 1853: Kværner Brug founded in Oslo.
    • 1922: Kværner Brug begins cooperation with Myrens Verksted
    • 1943: Kværner and Myren jointly acquire a majority shareholding in Thunes Mekaniske Verksted.
    • 1960: Kværner Brug president, Kjell Langballe, appointed president of all 'Kværner Group' companies
    • 1967: Joint holding company Kværner Industries AS established in December, listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The Kværner Group — comprising 10 Norwegian companies, 3,200 employees and operating revenues of NOK 385 million — enters the offshore oil and gas market from its base in Oslo and Kværner Engineering, an engineering and contracting company set-up in the late 1960's.
    • 1978: Offshore construction work starts at Kværner Egersund, and during this period the shipyard in Stavanger is converted into an offshore fabrication facility.
    • 1993: Construction work begins at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp through jointly owned subsidiary, Kværner Process Services Inc. (KPSI), initiating a business partnership with the US Department of Defense that would last until 2006.[4]
    • 1996: Kværner seeks to strengthen its engineering base internationally through the acquisition of UK-based conglomerate, Trafalgar House, becoming an international player in shipbuilding, oil and gas, pulp and paper plus engineering and construction. International headquarters is moved to London.
    • 1998: Kværner's pulp and paper becomes a core business area in its own right
    • 1999: The company initiates a major sell-off focused on realizing capital by divestment, but mounting financial and operational challenges persist and bring the company to an acute liquidity crisis in August 2001.
    • 2000: In July, Aker Maritime ASA, a Norway-based offshore products, technology and services provider, buys 26 percent of the shares in Kværner ASA.
    • 2001: In November, an agreement is reached between Aker Maritime ASA and Kværner ASA. Aker Maritime injects NOK 2.8 bn in net assets, raises another NOK 3.5 bn through two direct issues and renegotiates NOK 8.6 bn of Kværner's debt.
    • 2002: The Group decides to adopt the Aker Kvaerner brand for the entire Group.
    • 2023: The Group sold shares in their Subsea division to SLB in a Joint Venture deal, maintaining only 20% ownership

Aker Kværner, and transition to Aker Solutions: 2002 to 2008

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Logo of Aker Kværner prior to company renaming.

Aker Kværner resulted from a merger of Aker Maritime and Kværner Oil & Gas in 2002, and a major restructuring of the Aker Kværner business unit in 2004.

Earlier in 2003, the group structure of Aker Kværner was split into six business areas; Field Development Europe, MMO Europe, Subsea & Oilfield Products, Oil, Gas & Process International, E&C Europe and E&C Americas. A need arose in 2004 to simplify a complex group structure which led to the formation of two industrial groups: Aker Kværner, working with oil, gas, energy and process engineering, and shipbuilding Aker Yards. In addition, Aker Kværner became a minor shareholder in the Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic in 2004. The new Aker Kvaerner started trading on Oslo Stock Exchange under ticker symbol 'AKVER' on 2 April 2004.[5][6]

In 2006, the company's pulp-and-paper and power businesses were sold to Finnish-based Metso in a deal worth €335 million.[7] On 7 June 2007, an agreement was announced where a 40.1 percent stake of the company would be sold from Aker ASA to Aker Holding.[2] The new company would be owned by Aker ASA (60%), the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry (30%), SAAB (7.5%) and Investor (2.5%).[3][8]

In 2007, the company was identified by Amnesty International as an accessory to torture and other human rights abuses for its collaboration in constructing and maintaining the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.[4]

Aker Solutions: 2008 to 2020

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During the AGM held on 3 April 2008, Aker Kværner announced that it would rebrand as Aker Solutions, a name that references Aker's businesses heritage while being easy to pronounce.

Between April 2010 and June 2010, the company was awarded three contracts by Noble Energy to supply steel tube umbilicals, a complete mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) reclamation unit, and subsea control equipment for the construction of offshore oil platforms in the Tamar gas field in Israel. Together, the contracts were worth NOK 1.1 billion.[9]

On 6 May 2011, the Kværner name re-emerged when Aker Solutions' EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) division was re-branded, and a new company was spun off and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in the third-quarter of 2011. Aker Solutions' holding company — Aker Holdings AS — was renamed Aker Kværner Holding AS and it held about 40% of Kværner ASA. Aker ASA took over the 10% stake owned by Saab and Investor AB, raising its stake in Aker Kværner Holding AS to 70%.

In 2014, Aker Solutions was further divided into two companies, Aker Solutions and Akastor, and in August Aker Solutions leased the entire first phase of the new Aberdeen International Business Park[10] as part of a consolidation and strengthening of its oilfield services in and around Aberdeen, Scotland.

However, on 18 February 2015, the company announced the loss of around 300 jobs in Norway as a response to falling oil prices and the decline in demand for drilling services.[11]

In November 2020, Aker Solutions merged with Kværner ASA.[12][13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "2017 Annual Report" (PDF). Akersolutions.com. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Ownership of Aker Solutions". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Strategic ownership of Aker Kvaerner to be established" (Press release). Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Aker Kværner har medvirket til tortur på Guantànamo" [Aker Kværner Contributed to Torture at Guantanamo] (in Norwegian). Amnesty International. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Aker Kvaerner successfully listed" (Press release). Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  6. ^ Dagens Næringsliv (27 December 2006). "20 minutter unna konkurs".
  7. ^ Kati Renvall (2 August 2006). "Metso to acquire Aker Kvaerner's Pulping and Power business". Metso. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011.
  8. ^ Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry (22 June 2007). "The Norwegian Government contributes to long-term strategic ownership of Aker Kværner" (Press release).
  9. ^ "Tamar Natural Gas Field". Verdict Media. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Oil firm signs major office lease". BBC. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Aker Solutions cuts 300 Norway jobs". Petro Global News. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  12. ^ ·https://www.offshore-energy.biz/aker-solutions-kvaerner-fusion-gets-green-light/
  13. ^ "Kværner ASA: Update on the contemplated merger with Aker Solutions ASA". 9 November 2020.
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59°53′50.46″N 10°37′39.98″E / 59.8973500°N 10.6277722°E / 59.8973500; 10.6277722

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