“Today, Kongskilde Industries signifies an international group with almost 800 loyal, dedicated and adaptable employees. They are the force behind a comprehensive product range within our divisions of Soil, Grain, Industry and Vitamins & Minerals. We sell the implements worldwide, e.g. in the USA, China, Japan, South Africa and all over Europe, so even though Kongskilde has had its ups and downs in its sixty years of existence, it is now a brand which is known across the globe,” says Anette Ilsøe, CEO of Kongskilde Industries.
In the early years, the company was based only on Danish activities, but by the mid-1950s, the company began exporting and set up several distribution companies abroad in the 1960s and 1970s.
The ownership structure has varied, and Kongskilde has merged with other companies over the years, thus developing the group. In the late 1990s, Kongskilde merged with Överums Bruk in Sweden as well as three sales and production companies from Cormall Holding in Germany, Finland and Poland, respectively.
“Integrating the many different products into Kongskilde’s product programme proved a major challenge, and in 2000 we merged with the Thrige-Agro group. This meant that over a five-year period, Kongskilde expanded its product range from traditional harrows and seed drills to comprise a full line of soil cultivation implements,” says Anette Ilsøe, who also emphasises the robust ownership structure that fell into place in 2003 with DLG, Danske Bank and Cormall Agro. DLG became majority shareholder in 2007 and since then, Kongskilde has created a turnaround with black figures on the bottom line.
Most recently Kongskilde expanded its activities in June 2009 in Germany, where the group took over sole ownership of the well known and respected Danagri Deutschland. The company is market leader in precision seeders in Germany with its strong Becker brand. Danagri Deutschland holds unique expertise in precision seed drills, and Kongskilde has thus chosen to concentrate all development and fitting of precision maize and beet seed drills in Germany.
-“The various product and ownership initiatives mean that Kongskilde – financial crisis notwithstanding – believes in the need for agricultural implements in the years to come. Therefore, we have made investments in Sweden, Germany and now Poland,” Annette Ilsøe concludes.
Kongskilde turns sixty in November but has chosen to celebrate its anniversary already now in Poland in connection with the opening of new factory facilities which have already been commissioned.
Further information:
CEO of Kongskilde Industries, Anette Ilsøe, mobile +45 2020 5131 and Asbjørn Børsting, chairman of Kongskilde Industries and CEO of the DLG Group, mobile +45 2192 2000.
Phototext:
Grand Opening speech by Asbjørn Børsting, CEO of the DLG Group.
Photo: Wilhelm Makkink
Enclosures:
KPL-opening-speech-grand-opening-new-prod-hall.jpg (JPG, 542.67 KB)
