Maritime pioneers
Koppernæs has a long and proud history as one of the Norwegian maritime pioneers. On arriving in Ålesund in 1881, Hans Peter Koppernæs had little more than than an officers education to his name. This proved, however, to be enough as this young son of a farmer soon revealed his talent for business. Following three years of employment with the reputable tradesman L. A. Bakke, Koppernæs established his own maritime equipment business. He promptly made his mark. Clearly a man unable to rest on his laurels, when Hans Peter saw an opportunity, he grabbed it. He gradually acquired his own fleet to which he could deliver his own equipment as well as his own fish landing facilities, where he could receive fish from his own boats. A true self-made man. Despite the type of success that would have satisfied most, Hans Peter wanted to expand further. At that time, the Sunnmøre region’s fishermen focused their catch around their own coastline. Hans Peter saw much further, where far to the north lay the coast of Greenland and, literally speaking, a sea of opportunities and resources. Hans Peter Koppernæs helped finance the region’s first hunting expedition in 1898, resulting in a business that would establish Koppernæs as a central company in Sunnmøre.
Today, the spirit of Hans Peter Koppernæs lives on through his descendants. In upswings and downswings, hard times and good, five generations of Koppernæs have built the business brick by brick. Koppernæs has exercised its pragmatism for well over 100 years, fearless and willing to take chances as they presented themselves. This has, amongst other endevours, lead to a short career within car sales, the migrating of a factory from Ålesund to Peru and a period when all business was driven by the Family’s women, to great success, despite the traditional superstition that warns against mixing women and the fishing trades.
Today the Company stands sturdier and more diverse than ever, thanks in part to the acquisition of Tingstad, Nordic Fastening Group and TripleNine Group. All based upon those first principles established in 1884: Creating value that lasts, reliability, adventurous spirit and a compulsion to think out of the box and far beyond the horizon.
Create lasting value
We shall create lasting value for all our stakeholders through business excellence. Today, Koppernæs is owned and run by fifth generation descendants of its founder. Each generation having strived to leave the company stronger than when they themselves took control. This lays the foundations for our business philosophy: We strive to create lasting value. We believe in allowing financial results contribute to building stronger and better companies. We strive for and search for long-term, fruitful partnerships. This produces stability and a great extent of predictability, which are elements we experience as imperative for solid, healthy operations and profitability over time.
Corporate strategy
The challenges facing and opportunities arising within the blue industries and infrastructure sector are largely governed by global trends. Koppernæs’s direction, will be steered, in part, by megatrends encompassing demographic development, increased globalization and evolving markets. Scarcity of resources and climate change will also prove important factors. Our mission is to enable people to grow and thrive together to create lasting value for our customers, our people, our shareholders and the society wherever we work and live.
As a proactive and long-term investor, Koppernæs will contribute with core competencies in business development, financial structuring, industry insights and relevant networks for growth companies within the ocean space and infrastructure industries to ensure they realize their true potential.
Our values are the core of our business, as they define who we are, how we work, what we believe in and what we stand for. Our core values define our how we behave and how we expect to be treated as part of Koppernæs. All the decisions we make, we make based upon our set of values.
