Assa Abloy - History

History

The Assa Abloy Group was formed in 1994 when ASSA AB was detached from Swedish security company Securitas AB. Shortly thereafter the Finnish high-security lock manufacturer Abloy Oy, a subsidiary of the Finnish company Wärtsilä, was acquired. The company was introduced to the Stockholm Stock Exchange later the same year.

• 1996 - The acquisition of Essex positioned Assa Abloy in the U.S. electronic security market
• 1999 - The acquisition of Effeff Fritz Fuss in Germany enabled Assa Abloy to sell electromechanical locks to the German market. Assa Abloy acquires Fichet in France, manufacturer of high security locks.
• 2000 – The global lock group Yale Intruder Security is acquired. Assa Abloy acquires HID, a proximity identification access controls company. The acquisition added electronic identification to the Assa Abloy’s product portfolio.
• 2001 – Assa Abloy participates in Volvo Ocean Race.
• 2002 – Finish at second in the Volvo Ocean Race. Besam, a Swedish automatic door solutions company is acquired.
• 2003 - Carl-Henric Svanberg leaves his position as President and CEO of Assa Abloy for a position as President and CEO of telecommunications company Ericsson and is replaced by Bo Dankis.
• 2005 - Bo Dankis leaves his position as President and CEO of Assa Abloy and is replaced by Johan Molin, previous president of the industrial group Nilfisk-Advance Nilfisk.
• 2006 - Fargo Electronics is acquired. Fargo develops systems for safe issuing of ID cards, including card printers, peripheral equipment and software.
• 2007 - Baodean manufacturer of high-security locks in China and iRevo, supplier of digital door locks in Korea are acquired. In 2007, in total, seventeen companies joined the Group.
• 2008 – In total Assa Abloy acquired 18 companies, for example ShenFei in China.
• 2009 - Italian door automation manufacturer, Ditec, is acquired.
• 2010 - A minority share of German/Swiss door company Reckord is acquired
• 2011 - Crawford and Flexiforce are acquired.
• 2012 - Two of the three Ditec plants in Italy are undergoing "restructuring" as part of a restructuring program within ASSA ABLOY’s Entrance Systems division. The rest of the Ditec business in Italy is dismissing operations. More than 100 employees are going to be fired and are on strike.