An Exciting Acquisition Nationwide Footprint Across the US For many years, Nefab had been serving the US market from its manufacturing site in Peterborough. At the time, Nefab did not really have the capabilities to help global customers with local supply and service throughout the United States. Because of this, the decision was taken to strengthen Nefab's footprint in North America with the acquisition of Chick Packaging, a North American leader in industrial packaging solutions and services headquartered in Texas. Overnight, the sales teams in the US were backed up by over 600 employees across 17 sites in the United States, plus one site in Hamburg, Germany. The acquisition of Chick Packaging significantly increased Nefab’s capability in delivering complete packaging solutions in North America. With the addition of Chick Packaging’s expertise, reputation and footprint throughout the US, Nefab could now provide packaging solutions and services for several important customer segments in the area, including power generation, medical and telecom/electronics.
Evolution of Ownership A Long-term Partnership is Established The Nordgren family founded Nefab in 1949, and until 2007 was the majority owner of the company. During the period from 1996 to 2007, the company was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and from 2007 until 2014, the family co-owned Nefab with the investment group Nordic Capital. In October 2014, the Nordgren/Pihl family once again became the sole owner by buying Nordic Capital’s shares, while also announcing the intent to find a financially strong co-owner and partner – a partner that would share the family’s long-term focus. "Our goal was to find an ownership structure where we didn’t have to focus on quarterly reports. We wanted to work for long-term, stable growth, placing Nefab in an environment that could nurture the company’s long-term growth potential. We found the perfect partner in FAM," says Ing-Marie Nordgren, daughter of Nefab’s founder, Hans-Elov Nordgren. FAM is owned by the three largest Wallenberg Foundations, and in April 2015 FAM joined the Nordgren/Pihl family as co-owners of Nefab. Jochum Pihl adds: "This co-ownership is perfect for Nefab, since it provides the financial stability and strategic endurance to realize the full potential of Nefab in a transforming market." "In our long-term partnership with the Nordgren/Pihl family, we also want to provide access to our wider network of industrial companies, thereby creating even better conditions for Nefab to realize its vision of becoming the preferred global partner for sustainable packaging solutions and logistics optimization services," says Lars Wedenborn, CEO of FAM.
A Path Toward Innovation Today & Tomorrow It has now been more than 70 years since Nefab was founded. What started as a Swedish manufacturer of heat resistant bread boxes has developed through the decades into a leading global provider of sustainable packaging solutions and logistics services, with operations all around the world. Nefab has come a long way from improving bread boxes, but a core lesson from those days has endured. We innovate to simplify for our customers! Over the years, this principle has become a cornerstone within Nefab, guiding the thinking behind many groundbreaking multi-material solutions – often developed in close collaboration with our customers around the world. Today, Nefab is on a new growth journey realizing the ambition of being – the preferred global partner for sustainable packaging solutions and logistics optimization. The focus on global customers is taking center stage and Nefab is continually expanding its global footprint to match their needs. Additionally, Nefab is strengthening the capabilities within multi-material engineering and services – with the objective to further add value in terms of lower supply chain costs and reduced environmental impact. This value proposition is proving increasingly relevant, powered by continuous investments in new green materials and IoT solutions.