The History of KWH Group
1929
The Founding of Wiik & Höglund
As a business, the KWH Group goes right back to the 1920s and 30s. One August night in 1929 Emil Höglund and Edvin Wiik were sitting in the Finnström inn in Maksamaa discussing their future. They were both in the timber business but were now facing the prospect of looking for new work. Their discussions that night led to the establishment of the Wiik & Höglund timber company on August 28, 1929.
1937
The Founding of Keppo
Almost ten years later, in the winter of 1937 the poultry breeder Karl Johan Stuns of Vörå got in touch with Emil Höglund to ask whether he was interested in setting up a mink farm with him. In September 1937, seventeen minks from Sweden arrived at the Holmåkers mink farm in the village of Rökiö in Vörå, and the foundation for a company called Keppo was created.
1950s
The Business Diversifies
At the beginning of the 1950s Wiik & Höglund started to manufacture plastic floor tiles. Soon they also started to manufacture polyethylene film, and the first polyethylene pipes were supplied to customers in 1955. In the 1960s W&H was the first in the world to produce larger and larger plastic pipes. Keppo invested large sums of capital in mink farming, and in 1964 the farm was the biggest in the world. At the same the company acquired businesses in other fields, e.g. the abrasives factory Mirka. In the 1970s more than half of the turnover came from industry.
1984
The Birth of the KWH Group
Keppo acquired the majority holding in Wiik & Höglund in 1984 and KWH Group was born. At the same time the Keppo Group structure changed. While fur farming had previously been the dominant industry, the share of plastic products now accounted for more than half of turnover. The group consisted of nine business divisions, but already in 1989-1992, a drastic restructuring took place, including the closure of the fur farming.
1990s
Reorganization of the Group Structure
In the 1990s, the KWH Group focused on developing its core operations, which were defined as KWH Pipe, KWH Plast and KWH Mirka. Other aspects of operations, like Prevex, were brought together under KWH Invest. Mirka underwent the biggest change, and the investment in product development ensured products which measured up to the market leaders.
2000s
New Business Divisions
In 2001, a new business division, KWH Logistics, was formed. The KWH Group acquired the whole of Prevex in 2003 and invested in the development of the world’s most space-saving and innovative water traps. In 2012, KWH Plast’s manufacturing of polyethylene film was sold. The following year, the infrastructure businesses of KWH Pipe and Uponor Corporation formed a joint venture, Uponor Infra, which combined their pipe systems businesses. The KWH Group held 44.7% of the shares until 2023. In 2021, KWH Freeze separated from KWH Logistics and formed its own business division.
Histories of the KWH Group
In honor of the 90th anniversary of the KWH Group, a commemorative book was written in 2019 focusing on the Group’s latest 30 years.
A short story of the history of the KWH Group has also been written. It includes the whole history from the birth of the Group to the 1990s.