In March 2016 KONGSBERG announced the procurement of 49.9 per cent of the shares in the Finnish defence supplier Patria Oyj, which owns half of the Norwegian Nammo. Entering 2018 the new, Nordic defence alliance continues to gain momentum.

  • Text:KONGSBERG GRUPPEN

  • Ove Ronny Haraldsen
    Group Communication Manager
    +47 99 15 59 20

KONGSBERG, Patria and Nammo have, as a group, both complimentary and world-leading products, as well as key geographical areas that strengthen each other.

“This, combined with Patria’s strong position in Finland and KONGSBERG’s strong global alliances and position in Norway, makes us considerably stronger together. We are continuing the implementation plans and creating synergies by combining competence,” says President and CEO of KONGSBERG, Geir Håøy.

A NORDIC ALLIANCE
KONGSBERG is a technology company with an international, knowledge-based  group delivering high technology systems and solutions to clients within the oil and gas industry, merchant marine, defence and aerospace. Its defence business has a total of 2,400 employees, and had revenues of NOK 6.3 billion in 2016.

Patria has approx. 2,800 employees and in 2016 had a turnover of NOK 4.6 billion. The company is Finland’s leading defence supplier and it has a broad and modern product portfolio.

Nammo has approx. 2,100 employees and had a turnover of NOK 4.1 billion in 2015. The company develops and manufactures high technological products within ammunition and rocket engines for military and civilian purposes.

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“This partnership is a larger and stronger supplier to the Norwegian and Finnish armed forces with more than 7,000 employees and total gross revenues of NOK 15.0 billion. We have a close cooperation, including on air defence and missiles, and this cooperation is continuously being strengthened further. There are also significant opportunities within other areas, such as maintenance and aviation, that we are cooperating on”, says Håøy.

“Being both a leading national supplier to the Finnish armed forces and a partner for customers internationally this is a very important partnership for Patria. We’re strengthening our market offering both domestically and internationally. For Patria and Nammo, KONGSBERG is a very important partner and we see considerable opportunities going forward with this Nordic alliance”, says Olli Isotalo, President and CEO of Patria.

CHANGING INDUSTRY DYNAMICS
The European defence industry is in a state of change. Large companies are combining their efforts and forming strong amalgamations. KONGSBERG, Patria and Nammo’s partnership addresses this development.

“We see that small companies from small countries experience difficulties when they meet larger groups of defence companies. When we join together, we have a stronger position to compete on and win European procurement programmes that each of us individually would have had more challenges to compete for,” says Håøy.

NORDIC DEFENCE COOPERATION
KONGSBERG and Patria are both companies where the Norwegian and Finnish governments own the majority of the shares. The Norwegian government and Patria each have a 50 per cent ownership share in Nammo.

“KONGSBERG has succeeded in becoming a world- leader within a number of technologies. The consensus between the company and Finnish government is that this will create many possibilities for both KONGSBERG and Patria. This will strengthen the basis for further collaboration and further profitable growth for both parties. The agreement will strengthen the Nordic defence industry’s competitiveness in the European and international defence market,” said Minister of Trade and Industry Monica Mæland (H), following the announcement in 2016.

“Norway and Finland already have good cooperation for defence and security policy in several areas. The agreement will further strengthen this for the benefit of both countries. From the Norwegian defence’s perspecive, we will take advantage of this agreement for both parties’ benefit in accordance with the revised bilateral cooperation agreement for defence assets and industrial cooperation from July 2015,” said Norwegian Minister of Defence, Ine Eriksen Søreide (H) in 2016.

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