ESAB, ''Elektriska Svetsnings-

Aktiebolag (, " stock company") is the Swedish term for "limited company" or "corporation". When used in company names, it is abbreviated as "AB" (in Sweden), "Ab" (in Finland), or, rarely, "A/B" (dated), roughly equivalent to the abbreviations ''Corp.'', ...

et'' (), is an American-Swedish industrial company. The ultimate parent company of ESAB is ESAB Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange listed (Ticker
ESAB
with its principal executive office in

North Bethesda, Maryland North Bethesda is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, located just north-west of the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. It had a population of 50,094 as of the 2020 United States ce ...

, U.S. ESAB products includes a fabrication technology arm, which includes welding, cutting, gas control, PPE, software, and robotic equipment and a separate gas control portfolio focused on healthcare, industrial, and specialty gas control solutions.

History

The company was founded in 1904 by Swedish businessman

Oscar Kjellberg Oscar Kjellberg (21 September 1870 – 5 July 1931) was a Swedish inventor and industrialist. He founded Elektriska Svetsnings-Aktiebolaget ( ESAB) in 1904 and Kjellberg Finsterwalde in 1922. He invented the coated electrode used in manual met ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The company sells equipment for

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...

and

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the sca ...

. Other notable CEO was Lars Westerberg who ran ESAB for three years. The ESAB was acquired by

Charter International Charter International plc was a large British engineering business based in London. It was acquired by Colfax Corporation in January 2012. History Charter International's origins can be traced back to the British South Africa Company, which was ...

in 1994. The ESAB group was acquired by Colfax Corporation on 13 January 2012. Following the purchase, the CEO of Colfax, Clay Kiefaber, stepped down to the president role of ESAB and was replaced by Steve Simms. The ESAB group acquired the Welding Wire business of

Sandvik Sandvik AB is a Swedish multinational corporation, multinational engineering company specializing in products and services for mining, rock excavation, drilling rig, rock drilling, rock processing (crusher, crushing and mechanical screening, scre ...

effective February 1, 2018. The acquisition included production units in Scranton, PA, and Sandviken, Sweden; the technical sales and product management organization; as well as multiyear strategic collaboration on R&D for future product developments. On April 5, 2022, Colfax Corp. (now Enovis Corp.) distributed 100% of the shares of ESAB Corporation to Colfax shareholders. The spin-off transaction was registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission through a Form 10-12
registration statement
A

was sent to Colfax shareholders. On October 17, 2022, ESAB Corporation announced the acquisition of Ohio Medical, a global leader in oxygen regulators and central gas systems for the healthcare industry.

Critics

In January 2024 ESAB was added to Ukraine's list of

International Sponsors of War International Sponsors of War () was a publicly-available list of companies and individuals maintained by the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) in connection with the Russo-Ukrainian War, particularly the Russian invasion of ...

for continuing to operate and expand business in Russia.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies based in Montgomery County, Maryland Swedish companies established in 1904 Manufacturing companies of Sweden Companies in the S&P 400 1900s establishments in Gothenburg and Bohus County