Perstorp AB started its business in 1881 and soon became a pioneer in many areas linked to chemicals. By working with constant renewal the company has grown from being a local manufacturer to a global specialty chemicals Group spearheading specially selected niches. Now Perstorp can summarise its development with the motto “Winning Formulas”!

The origins of the company that was formed before the development of petrochemicals was the beech wood forest around Perstorp in northern Skåne, Sweden. But to start a business like Perstorp requires more than just access to raw materials, it also requires an energetic entrepreneur who can see market needs.

This entrepreneur was Wilhelm Wendt, who, in 1881, started the business under the name Stensmölla Tekniska Fabriks AB. The young civil engineer began to produce simple chemical products from his father Carl Wendt’s forests around Perstorp, using methods he’d picked up from his study visits to Germany and France. The first products were acetic acid and charcoal. Major success for his acetic acid from households led to the company changing its name to Skånska Ättiksfabriken in 1888. 

Production of formalin begins
The company also started to produce methanol from the beech wood, which is the chemical term for wood alcohol. This product was refined for the first time into formalin in 1907, and is a versatile chemical that Perstorp still produces and uses as the raw material in many of its products. Wood has been replaced as the raw material for methanol by natural gas and Perstorp buys its methanol requirement from global supplies. The company has also developed an efficient, market-leading formalin process that’s licensed to companies throughout the world. 

Over the years the company developed a wide-ranging product portfolio based on formalin chemicals and closely related technologies. This led, among other things, to a pioneering introduction into plastics, and in 1917 Perstorp started the first production of plastics in Scandinavia. The person responsible for this development work was Innanendra das Gupta, an Indian chemical engineer that Wilhelm Wendt had recruited from Berlin, and who succeeded in the art of producing hard plastics, or isolite, without breaching the many patents surrounding the alternative at the time, bakelite. The first plastic product from Skånska Ättiksfabriken was a circuit breaker and production soon grew in line with electricity becoming available to society, which created a need for this versatile, insulating material. 

The varnishes developed later form the basis for manufacturing laminates, which Perstorp soon started to produce in two basic forms – technical laminate and decorative laminate. Technical laminate is used primarily in the radio industry, while decorative laminate is used for work surfaces etc., and became much appreciated for its durable surface. 

Success with the Perstorp-Plattan
After the Second World War sales of the new Perstorp laminate literally exploded. Sweden underwent a wave of modernisation – hundreds of thousands of apartments’ kitchens and bathrooms were often fitted with the new, practical laminate from Perstorp. A major success was the “Chaos” pattern, designed by the young designer Sigvard Bernadotte, and on the continent an intensive rebuilding of post-war Europe was underway, which created a significant export market for the company.

The post-war financial growth and success for Perstorp’s laminate helped towards healthy growth for the company. The plants at Perstorp expanded dramatically and provided the area of Perstorp such a boost that people started planning a future with a town charter. The first international production began in 1955 when laminate production started in Sao Paolo, Brazil. 

Investments in chemicals
Through dynamic and long-term development, beginning in the 1940s, the foundation for the company’s modern specialty chemicals was laid, through investments in polyalcohols, which are adhesives mainly used in the production of paints and varnishes. Even before the end of the Second World War a small plant was built for producing pentaerytritol, which is mainly used to replace glycerol in the production of alkyds in the paint industry. The project proved however to be difficult and costly, but the company chose to continue. In the 1950s the commercial breakthrough arrived and in 1955 production of a further polyol began with trimethylpropane, which is also used primarily by the paint industry. Polyalcohols become quite successful for Perstorp and today make up the biggest product group for the company.

At this time production also included many other types of chemical-based products such as varnishes, harts, hard plastics and hard plastic products. Perstorp also invested in the new thermoplastics and in just a few years became Scandinavia’s largest plastics business with 10,000 products in its range.

Company listed on the stock exchange
Towards the end of the 1960s the company however faced major challenges. The company had a sound technological base and a corporate culture based on entrepreneurial spirit. But the company now needed financial muscle in order to manage continued expansion and management that could put the company in top gear for the future. The owners decided therefore to list the company on the stock exchange and recruit a CEO outside the family, but also to retain the main influence over the company.

A few years earlier the company had changed its name to Perstorp AB, and in 1970 started a new era with this Perstorp AB as a Plc on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The newly-listed company at this time only had production in Sweden and Brazil.

International expansion soon followed in order to build strong positions in the areas seen as the most attractive, such as chemical, plastics, and laminates. Companies were acquired in quick succession in the UK, Austria and the US in the 1970s. This included polyol production in Toledo, Ohio in 1977. A specific business development company, Pernovo, was formed to provide the Group with new businesses to complement the more mature product in the portfolio.

It should be mentioned that a new Swedish petrochemical centre was being established in Stenungsund, Bohuslän in the 1960s, completely separate to the Perstorp Group. A crack plant was set up there in 1963 and around this grew a number of chemicals industries. Among these included an oxo plant, which would become an important supplier to Perstorp AB, and years later would become part of the Group.

Increasing diversification
In the 1980s Perstorp entered a period of dramatic expansion. Active development work, combined with international investment led to the Group growing both in product terms and geographically. Many corporate acquisitions were made in other countries and Perstorp’s shares were introduced onto the London Stock Exchange in 1983 and Paris in 1989.

New specialty chemical products were developed and technical laminate entered a new era for use in the electronics industry and from the decorative laminate came a completely new product, Pergo laminate flooring, which in just a few years developed into a global product. If this wasn’t enough the business development company Pernova made inroads into new area such as plastic additives, sound insulation and analysis systems. The business was very diversified but kept together knowing that all the products had evolved from Perstorp’s experience and in-depth chemicals know-how, and in many cases on the joint, internally produced raw materials.

Perstorp was initially able to handle the expanding portfolio and even took lead positions on many markets. But as walls fell in Europe and globalisation gathered pace in the 1990s Perstorp found it difficult to assert itself in all these areas, especially as consolidating between customers and the competition quickly became an attractive proposition.

Specialising in specialist chemicals 
A concentration began in the 1990s of the Group’s business towards fewer areas and many businesses were closed down within technical laminates, vehicle components, plastics-based material management systems etc.

In the end specialty chemicals stood side-by-side with the still expanding Pergo flooring, as the most attractive area for Perstorp to invest in. Both areas were now seeing major investments. Pergo was establishing itself in the US, where the company soon became a well-known brand. Perstorp Specialty Chemicals, which was by now a global business and the biggest supplier of many polyols, began to invest in Asian markets. Focusing on these two areas led to the Group separating off its bio-technical business under the name Perbio Science AB to list on the stock exchange.

Following many years of dramatic sales growth Pergo began meeting tough competition from companies with other production technologies and the company stood at a new crossroads, not unlike the crossroads that led to Perstorp’s listing on the stock exchange 30 years earlier. This time it was the Board’s decision to list Pergo AB from the stock exchange and sell the Group, as a purely chemicals company to the venture capital company Industri Kapital.

This happened in 2001 and Industri Kapital, which had previously acquired Neste Oxo in Stenungsund, incorporated this business into the Perstorp Group. By combining the two businesses it formed a Group with a strong technological foundation and long process chains. On the market this meant more effective production and created the conditions for more enhanced research and development work. The amalgamation meant increased resources to work close to customers throughout the world.

The specialty chemicals company Perstorp has developed very quickly in recent years and has recently started some of the biggest investments in the company’s history.

Furthermore, the Compunds business has been sold. There is a strong belief in the future both inside and outside the company and as the company celebrates its 125 birthday the Group is being acquired by the French venture capital company PAI Partners. PAI Partners’ support for Perstorp’s growth strategy and the major investments in R&D and production the specialty chemicals company now stands well-prepared to continue creating “Winning Formulas” for the global markets of the 21st century. 


1881
Company founded in Perstorp with the production of acetic acid and charcoal
1907
Formalin production starts and forms the basis of a long line of products
1917
Company becomes the first plastics business in Scandinavia
1923
Laminate production starts, firstly for industrial applications and later for decorative applications
1950
Perstorp starts producing thermoplastic products
1951
Perstorp sheet laminate is launched and becomes a huge success in many countries
1940-60
Major development investment in polyols for paints and varnishes
1970
Perstorp AB is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and grows
1974-1990
Dramatic diversification and internationalisation leads to business in new areas such as plastic additives, analysis systems and sound insulation
1977
Polyol production begins in the US and later in more countries in Europe and Asia
1984
The world’s first laminate flooring was produced and led to the rapid development of the Pergo® brand
1991
Streamlining the Group starts, leading to the separation into two listed companies – Perbio Science AB (1999) and Pergo AB (2001)
2001
Perstorp is delisted from the stock market and integration begins with Neste Oxo
2005
Focusing on specialty chemicals is completed and extensive capacity investments start in order to meet growing demand