A hundred years of construction
Asfaltti Osakeyhtiö Lemminkäinen was founded in Helsinki in 1910 by a group of entrepreneurial master builders. At first the company's business was limited to waterproofing and bituminous yard and street works. Read about the company’s birth phase.
The company soon added concrete products such as stairway steps to its product range. Read about the history of Lemminkäinen’s concrete products business.
The business expanded with Finland’s independence from Russia in 1916. In 1920 Lemminkäinen opened its own roofing felt factory, and in the 1930s the company’s research and development work focused on asphalt production. Lemminkäinen started to produce hot-mix asphalt and carried out its first road paving contracts. After the Second World War, Lemminkäinen gradually assumed leadership of the Finnish asphalt paving market through organic growth and a number of significant acquisitions. Read about the history of Lemminkäinen’s asphalt paving business.
Lemminkäinen’s new roofing felt factory was completed at Lohja in the 1950s, and the production of concrete products was transferred from Helsinki to Tuusula in the 1960s. The company also branched out into civil engineering works and painting contracting.
Expanding horizons
Lemminkäinen’s strong growth began in the 1970s. The relatively modest “tar firm” was being transformed into a diversified international construction company. The company's construction project exports were initially targeted at the former Soviet Union and Africa. In 1975 Lemminkäinen acquired a majority interest in Oy Alfred Palmberg Ab, which became the hub of Lemminkäinen's building construction operations. Read about the history of Palmberg
In 1989 Lemminkäinen's shares were listed for the first time on OMX Helsinki Exchange's OTC List, eventually being transferred to OMX's Official List in 1995.
Lemminkäinen Group was reorganised into four business areas on 1.1.2008. The business areas are building construction, infrastructure construction, technical building services, and building products. The new companies formed for the building construction and infrastructure construction building areas are Lemminkäinen Talo Oy and Lemminkäinen Infra Oy. Read about the structure of the Group