Company history

The founder of Aktieselskabet Schouw & Co., Victor Schouw, apprenticed at Drewsens Papirfabrik "Strandmøllen" near Skodsborg, north of Copenhagen, and after a number of years of working for various trading companies he established his own business on January 10, 1878, leasing a few small rooms in the rear building of the property located at Nordvestvej 14 in the Copenhagen district of Nørrebro.

In the company’s very humble beginnings, the only outside help was a couple of young girls gluing together paper bags by hand. Producing bags by machine had not yet been introduced in Denmark at that time.

The company expanded steadily and gradually came to include several paper and packaging operations. Victor Schouw had no children or close relatives he could hand the company over to when he retired, so he converted the business into a limited liability company in 1911.

Schouw & Co. acquired Jyllands Papir-Værk A/S based in Aarhus in 1930. In the years thereafter, producing paper bags was still the company’s most important activity, but later wax paper for rye bread and other types of carton and paper packaging gradually accounted for more and more of its output. Jyllands Papir-Værk was one of the first businesses in Denmark to begin mechanically manufacturing carton and paper packaging in colourful offset printing, and all of the company’s operations were gradually consolidated in Aarhus.

In 1956, Jyllands Papir-Værk became the first company in Europe to be licensed to produce Pure-Pak cartons, which were invented in the United States. Milk cartons, at this time still unknown in the Danish market, were sold via the Tyrstrup Mejeri dairy to US troops stationed in Germany. Cartons were produced using conventional printing machines and stamping presses. In 1967, Pure-Pak cartons were introduced as milk packaging in Denmark, and Jyllands Papir-Værk built a new factory at Lystrup, a town outside Aarhus, where special-purpose machines manufactured Pure-Pak cartons. In 1973, the company’s management and the remainder of the production facilities also relocated from Aarhus to Lystrup.

In 1986, Jyllands Papir-Værk changed its name to SCHOUW Packaging A/S. The company now only manufactured Pure-Pak cartons, all other packaging operations having been divested. In 1988, a 50% ownership interest in SCHOUW Packaging was sold to Norwegian company Elopak a.s., which had acquired the global rights to the Pure-Pak concept.

In 1988, Schouw & Co. acquired all shares in A/S P. Grene from the Grene family as part of a generational change in that company. At the time, the Grene group consisted mainly of A/S P. Grene, the parent company, and the two operating companies Chr. C. Grene A/S and Hydra Grene A/S.

In 1989, Schouw & Co. acquired its initial stake in bread manufacturer Schulstad Gruppen A/S, and its ownership interest was gradually increased over the course of the following years. In 1999, Schulstad Gruppen changed its name to Schulstad A/S and by the end of 2001, Schow held a 37.3% ownership interest in the company. Schouw & Co. acquired a further 24.4% of the shares in Schulstad in March 2002, bringing its stake to a total of 61.7%. At the beginning of 2003, the Schulstad business was sold off to Swedish company Cerealia.

In 1994, Schouw & Co. acquired a 25% stake in Micon A/S, in connection with Micon’s founder retiring. Schouw purchased even more shares in the company in the years that followed. In 1997, Micon A/S merged with Nordtank Energy Group A/S, a listed company, forming NEG Micon A/S, whose largest shareholder was Schouw & Co.

NEG Micon A/S merged with Vestas Wind Systems A/S in 2004.Schouw & Co. continues to hold a stake in Vestas Wind Systems A/S.

In May 1999, Schouw & Co. acquired a majority shareholding in Martin Gruppen A/S from that company’s major shareholders. More shares were purchased in the time that followed, and by the end of 2000, the Schouw & Co. ownership share in Martin Gruppen was 69.2%. In March 2001, Schouw & Co. submitted a tender offer to all shareholders of Martin Gruppen with a view to obtaining full ownership, an objective that was achieved in July 2001.

In June 2000, Schouw & Co. helped establish Aarhus Business Incubator A/S, taking a 25% ownership interest in return.

In 2001, Schouw & Co. acquired a 50% stake in Swedish company Elopak AB. This acquisition was a natural next step in meeting Schouw’s growing need to coordinate packaging operations across national borders. Following the acquisition, Schouw Packaging A/S changed its name to Elopak Denmark A/S effective 1 October 2002.

In March 2002, Schouw & Co. acquired all the shares in Fibertex A/S with the intention of supporting the continued growth strategy of that company.

In 2004, Schouw & Co. set up a 50/50 joint venture with the Dalgas Group. Both parties contributed operating activities and fresh capital, and they now each hold 50% of the shares in the new company. The company’s business is to build biogas plants and related solutions.

In 2005, Schouw & Co. acquired a 68.82% stake in listed company BioMar Holding A/S from Norsk Hydro., This was Schouw & Co.’s largest single investment ever, and it is expected to lift sales and earnings substantially. BioMar produces fish feed for the fish farming industry.