Oras Invest’s Year 2024: Committed to our industrial owner strategy

“2025 marks the 20th anniversary of Oras Invest. Our long-term industrial ownership strategy remains unchanged. Our companies are market leaders in their respective industries, and they performed well in 2024 considering the still muted demand and investment environment. As a testament to our belief in our portfolio, in 2024 we further deployed EUR 177 million of capital into Valmet, Kemira and Georg Fischer. Oras Invest is represented on all three companies’ Boards.”, says President & CEO Annika Paasikivi.

Oras Invest is the largest industrial owner of the listed companies Kemira, Valmet and Georg Fischer, and the 100% owner of Oras Group. In 2024, Oras Invest also acquired a 1.4% shareholding in Konecranes, a global leader in material handling solutions, and in February 2025 a 5.1% shareholding in Lindab, a leading European ventilation company headquartered in Sweden. Oras Invest is also the lead investor in the first fund of venture capital company Kvanted, investing in industrial technology startups in Northern Europe.  

In terms of shareholder value creation, 2024 was another good year for Oras Invest, with Net Asset Value increasing by 12% to EUR 1.7 billion (OMX Helsinki TSR -2%). The combined net sales of the owned companies totaled EUR 13.5 billion in 2024. Oras Invest’s dividend income was EUR 62 million.

“During the first quarter of 2025 we have executed a major succession process and appointed Markus Melkko as new President and CEO of Oras Invest. He will assume the position by the end of May. As I warmly welcome my successor to take over the operative duties of our family company, I am honored to step up as Executive Chair of the Board of Directors. Consequently, Jari Paasikivi, our Chair since 2018, will retire after a successful tenure during which we have significantly transformed and balanced our portfolio of industrial companies. Christoph Vitzthum and Kaj Paasikivi will also step down from the board. Jari, Christoph and Kaj have all had profound influence on our long-term value creation and I thank all three of them for their consistent guidance and support for the management team.”, continues Annika Paasikivi.

“The global and European GDP outlook for 2025 is modestly positive. The construction sector in Northern Europe, which is particularly relevant for Oras Group, is expected to begin gradually recovering. Overall, the relative outlook of our portfolio companies looks positive with their strong market positions, geographically diversified operations, and healthy demand drivers. Still, there is significant geopolitical uncertainty that can change the situation quickly.”, concludes Annika Paasikivi.

Henrik Paasikivi has been appointed as a new board member to the Board of Directors of Oras Invest at the General Meeting of Shareholders on April 1, 2025.