Assa Abloy AB is a Swedish Group whose offerings include products and services related to locks, doors, gates, and entrance automation. Related products and services include controlling access and confirming identities with keys, cards, tags, mobile, and biometric identity verification systems. The company was formed in 1994, when Assa AB was separated from Swedish security firm

Securitas AB Securitas AB is a Swedish Corporate group, group devoted to security services, such as security guarding, mobile patrolling, Surveillance, monitoring, Private investigator, investigation and related consulting services. The group is headquartere ...

. Shortly thereafter, Assa AB merged with the Finnish high security lock manufacturer Abloy Oy (based in

Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...

, a then subsidiary of the Finnish company

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...

). The company was introduced to the

Stockholm Stock Exchange Nasdaq Stockholm, formerly known as the Stockholm Stock Exchange (), is a stock exchange located in Frihamnen, Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863, it has become the primary securities exchange of the Nordic countries. As of March 2021, a total ...

later the same year. Assa Abloy has since made over 300 acquisitions including

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

Chubb Locks Chubb Locks is a former brand name of the Mul-T-Lock subsidiary of the Assa Abloy Group, which manufactures locking systems for residential, secure confinement and commercial applications. When the brand licence expired in 2010 the name cea ...

Medeco Medeco, a subsidiary of the Swedish Assa Abloy Group, is a lock manufacturer located in Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. History Medeco traces its origins to the Mechanical Development Company, a tool and die shop, founded in mid-1950 ...

in the United States, Mul-T-Lock in Israel and Fichet-Bauche in France. Its two largest shareholders are

Latour Latour may refer to: People * LaTour, American musician Surname * House of Baillet ** Alfred de Baillet Latour (1901–1980), Belgian count ** Henri de Baillet-Latour (1876–1942), Belgian aristocrat and the third president of the Internationa ...

and Melker Schörling AB.

Name

Assa Abloy was founded at the merger of the two companies Assa and Abloy in 1994. Assa stands for August Stenman Stenman August. The name Abloy comes from a contraction of the Swedish Finnish bilingual name Ab Låsfabriken Lukkotehdas Oy, meaning literally ''Corp. Lock Factory Lock Factory Corp.'' (first Corp. and Låsfabriken from Swedish, last Lukkotehdas and Corp. from Finnish). In 1919 the company was renamed ''Aktiebolag Lukko Osakeyhtiö'', understood word for word as ''Corp. Lock Corp.''

History

Founding, growth and development

Assa Abloy was formed in 1994, through the merger of Swedish firm ASSA and Finnish high security lock manufacturer Abloy. The company was introduced to the Stockholm Stock Exchange later the same year.Assa Abloy Acquisitions
From a regional company with 4,700 employees in 1994, Assa Abloy has become a global group with 61,000 employees in 2023. The company has grown its revenue by more than 9% annually and operates now in over 70 countries. Revenue in 2022 was SEK 120,793 M.

Sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

revenue in 2023 was 140,716 M. The increase of 16% was a third due to the effects of the exchange rate.

Brands

* ASSA, Sweden (namesake) (August Stenman Stenman August (founded by August Stenman)) * ABLOY, Joensuu & Helsinki, Finland (namesake) (AktieBolag Lukko OsakeYhtiö) * Albany, United States (founded in Albany, NY) * Alcea, France * Amarr, United States (founded by Abraham & Morris Brenner) * Ameristar, United States * Arjo, France (Arches Johannot founded by Mathieu and Barthélémy Johannot) * Arrow, United States * Baron, Canada * Besam, Sweden (founded by Bertil Samuelsson) * Biosite, United Kingdom * Boda, Finland (Bjorkboda) * Carlisle Brass, United Kingdom (founded in Carlisle, United Kingdom) * Carpro, Sweden * Caldwell,United States (founded by William Caldwell) * Cheil, South Korea * Corbin, Italy (named after Philip & Frank Corbin) * Corbin Russwin, United States (founded by Philip & Frank Corbin, Henry Russell, Cornelius Erwin) * Control ID (Identification), Brazil * Crawford, United States ('founded by Fred Crawford) * Ditec, Italy * D&D Technologies, Australia (founded by Neil Dunne & David Doyle) * Effeff Fritz Fuss, Germany ('founded by Fritz Fuss) * Elsafe, Norway * FAB, Czech Republic (Faborsky & Salda founded by Alois Faborsky) * Fargo Electronics, United States (named after William Fargo) * FAS, Sweden (founded by Franz August Stenman) * Fichet, France (founded by Alexandre Fichet) * Flexiforce, Netherlands * Forte, Peru * Global Reach, United Kingdom * Guoqiang, China (founded by Song Guoqiang) * Hanchett Entry Systems (HES), United States (founded by Lee Hanchett) * HID (Hughes Identification Devices founded by Howard Hughes), United States * HKC Security, Ireland (Harte, Kelly & Company(1993-2000) founded by Peter Harte & Gerry Kelly) * IDS, South Africa (Inhep Digital Security) * Ikon, Germany * IFAM (Industrias Favril Aranzabal Mondragón), Spain * Janam Technologies, United States * JPM, France (founded by Jean Pierre Maquennehen) * KAD (Korea Auto Door), South Korea * Kelley, india (founded by Gary Kelley) * Keso, Switzerland (Keller & Sohn, founded by Ernst Keller) * Kwikset, United States * LaFonte, Brazil * L-Door, Belgium (founded by Luc de Bischop in Liedekerke) * Lips, The Netherlands ('founded by Jacobus Lips) * Litto, Belgium (founded in Littoral, Belgium) * Lockwood (named after Henry Lockwood), Australia * Lorient, United Kingdom (founded in Lorient, France) * Luxer One, United States * MAB, Italy (founded by Domenico Masellis in Bologna) * MAUER, Bulgaria *

, United States (Mechanical Development Company) * MR, Portugal (MRodrigues SA founded by Manuel Rodrigues) * MegaDoor, United States * Metaflex Door, The Netherlands * Mercor, Poland * Mul-T-Lock, Israel * Nassau Door, Denmark (named after Nassau, Bahamas) * National Hardware, United States * NEMEF, The Netherlands(NEderlandsche MEubelsloten Fabriek) * ODIS, Chile (Obras De Ingeneria Santiago) * Olimpia Hardware, Costa Rica * Papaiz, Brazil (founded by Luigi Papaiz) * Pfister, United States (founded by William Pfister) * Phillips, Mexico (named after Henry Frank Phillips) * Planet GDZ, Switzerland (founded by Rene Geyger & Andreas Dintheer in Zurich) * Point Fort Fichet, France (founded by Alexandre Fichet) * PTI Security Systems, United States (Preferred Technology Incorporated) * Rixson, United States (founded by Oscar Rixson) * Ruko, Denmark (founded by Rudolf Koreska) * Sargent (founded by Joseph Sargent), United States * Scovill, Mexico (named after James, Willam H and William B Scovill) * Securitech, United States * Silvana, Brazil * SKIDATA, Austria * SMI, India (Shree Mahaveer Industries) * Spence Doors, Australia (founded by Robert Spence) * St Guchi, Malaysia * Sure-Loc Hardware, United States * Tesa, Spain (Talleres des Eskoriaza Sociedad Annonima) * Traka, United Kingdom * TrioVing, Norway (named after Petter & Wilhelm RosenVinge) * Trojan, United Kingdom * Udinese, Brazil (named after Udine, Itlay Luigi Papaiz's birthplace) * Uhlmann & Zacher, Germany (founded by Martin Uhlmann & Marc Zacher) * Union, Kenya * Union, United Kingdom * Valli, Italy (founded by Pasquele Valli) * Vachette, France (founded by Louis & Emile Vachette) * VingCard Elsafe, Norway (named after Petter & Wilhelm RosenVinge) * Viro, South Africa (named after Vincenzo Rosetti) * Wesko Locks, Canada (founded by Florian Westwinkel) * Weiser Locks, USA (founded by Edgar Weiser) * Xinmao, China *

, except for United States and Canada (founded by Linius Yale) * Yeti, Poland

Acquisitions

In May 1999, the acquisition of Effeff Fritz Fuss in Germany enabled Assa Abloy to enter the electromechanical lock market. Assa Abloy also acquires Mul-T-Lock in Israel, a manufacturer of high security locks. Assa Abloy doubles in size in 2000, when it acquires the global lock group Yale Intruder Security. In the same year, Assa Abloy acquires HID, adding electronic identification to its product portfolio. In April 2002, Assa Abloy Group acquired Besam, a Swedish company specialized in automatic pedestrian doors. Another important acquisition for the group was Fargo Electronics, a company which develops systems for safe issuing of credit, bank, debit and ID cards. This was followed by other acquisitions such as Baodean in China and Irevo in South Korea in 2007. In 2009, the Italian door automation manufacturer, Ditec, was bought. Important acquisitions were also made in September 2011, with the purchase of Crawford and Flexiforce. A number of purchases followed in 2012. In April 2012 Traka, a company specialising in key and asset management was acquired. The group also acquired Albany Door Systems, a manufacturer of high speed industrial doors. November 2013 came with the purchase of the Polish fire and security door manufacturer Mercor SA, Ameristar USA, and Amarr. In 2018, Assa Abloy acquired Lorient, a UK based designer and manufacturer of high performance door sealing systems and HKC, an Irish alarm and cloud based monitoring solutions manufacturer. In December 2018, Assa Abloy acquired Luxer One, a package locker business in the US. In February 2020, Assa Abloy acquired the UK-based, 140-strong biometric access and workforce management technology business, Biosite. In May 2021, Assa Abloy acquired Sure-Loc, the leading supplier of residential locks and associated hardware in the US. In September 2021, Assa Abloy acquired the Hardware and Home Improvement ("HHI") division of

Spectrum Brands Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational consumer products conglomerate headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin. It was established in 2005 as the successor to Rayovac Corporation. The company manufactures and markets home ...

for $4.3 billion. HHI has a varied portfolio of products, including patented SmartKey technology and electronic, smart and biometric locks. Key brands include Kwikset, Baldwin, Weiser, Pfister and National Hardware. HHI is headquartered in Lake Forest, California with some 7,500 employees worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, Taiwan, China, and the Philippines. In June 2022, Caldwell, a manufacturer of fenestration hardware for window manufacturers based in

Rochester, NY Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, was acquired by Assa Abloy for an undisclosed sum. In August 2022, ALCEA, a company specializing in access control solutions and catering to various vertical markets, was acquired by Assa Abloy Global Solutions. In December 2022, Assa Abloy acquired the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-headquartered provider of rugged handheld mobile computers and readers, Janam Technologies. On September 8, 2021, Assa Abloy announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Spectrum Brands' HHI division, including Kwikset, among other brands, for a purchase price of $4.3 billion. The transaction was initially expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021. On June 20, 2023, the purchase of the "HHI" division of Spectrum Brands was completed, this included the Kwikset brand. In October 2023, Assa Abloy acquired

-headquartered manufacturer of high-security mechanical and electronic door hardware products in the U.S., Securitech Group Inc. In late July 2024, Assa Abloy announced plans to acquire

SKIDATA SKIDATA GmbH is an Austria, Austrian company that provides access technology to various sectors, including airports, car parks, urban areas, shopping malls, office buildings, educational institutions, hospitals, mountain destinations, hotels, and ...

from the

Kudelski Group Kudelski SA is a Swiss company that sells digital television access and management systems, content protection solutions, cybersecurity solutions, Internet of Things products and public access infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Chesea ...

. In late 2024, Irish subsidiary HKC launched the first online portal for clients and customers.

Cooperation with colleges and universities

The company is a Corporate Partner in the

Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; , HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with PhD- and Executive education progr ...

partner program for companies that contribute financially to the college and works closely with regard to research and education.

References

{{Authority control Manufacturing companies established in 1994 Manufacturing companies based in Stockholm Lock manufacturers Wärtsilä Companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Companies in the OMX Stockholm 30 Companies in the OMX Nordic 40 Swedish companies established in 1994 Swedish brands Multinational companies headquartered in Sweden