Kongsberg Gruppen : A leading nordic defence partnership

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 an international, knowledge-based group delivering high technology systems and solutions to clients within the oil and gas industry, merchant marine, defence and aerospace. KONGSBERG has 7 000 employees located in more than 25 countries and total revenues of NOK 15.8 billion in 2016.

In 2016 Patria had a turnover of 489.9 EUR million and approx. 2,800 employees. Patria is a trusted provider of defence, security and aviation life cycle support services and technology solutions.

Nammo has approx. 2,200 employees and had a turnover of NOK 4,1 billion in 2016. The company develops and manufactures high technological products within ammunition and rocket engines for military and civilian purposes.

'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 13,4 billion Norwegian kroner. 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 Isotala, 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.

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.

Nordic defence cooperation

'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.