Andritz AG

In 1852 the company was founded as an iron foundry in Andritz, a suburb of the city of Graz in Austria. Soon after its foundation, the company's production program was extended to include large capital goods, such as cranes, pumps, water turbines, and later also bridges, steam boilers and engines, as well as mining equipment.

In 1949 Andritz began a lasting cooperation with the Escher Wyss Group of Switzerland, initially in the water turbines sector.

In 1951 Andritz embarked on the production of complete paper machines in cooperation with Escher Wyss.

During the 1960s and 1970s, ANDRITZ continued to grow. The production shops were extended, new machines purchased, and research and development activities intensified. Electrochemical and metallurgical equipment were added to the production program.

In 1987, Andritz began to change its strategic direction, from being a licensee of other equipment manufacturers to become a leading international supplier of its own high-tech production systems.

In 1990, the acquisition of Sprout-Bauer, a US company supplying equipment for mechanical pulp and animal feed production, marked the beginning of the group's expansion policy through acquisitions.

2000/01 One of the largest transactions in terms of sales was the acquisitions of Ahlstrom Machinery Group, which made Andritz a globally leading supplier of pulp production systems.

In 2001 Andritz went public on the Vienna Stock Exchange. Two million new shares were placed successfully with national and international investors.

In 2006, with the acquisition of VA TECH HYDRO, Andritz advanced to a globally leading supplier of electromechanical equipment for hydropower plants

2011 Acquisition of AE&E Austria

2013 Largest acquisition was Schuler GmbH, Germany, leading company in metalforming

2014 Acquisition of Herr-Voss Stamco Inc., USA, leading supplier of coil processing equipment and services for the metals industry

2018 Diatec completes the portfolio in hygiene papers. Xerium Technologies is a global manufacturer and supplier of machine clothing (forming fabrics, press felts, drying fabrics) and roll covers for paper, tissue, and board machines.

2021 Laroche is a supplier of fiber processing technologies. Andritz acquires parts of Air Quality Control System (AQCS) business from GE Steam Power.

In March 2000, the company acquired a 50 percent stake in Finland's Ahlstrom Machinery Group from the A. Ahlstrom, a manufacturer of chemical pulp plants and other pulp processing machinery. As part of the purchase agreement, Andritz also received the option of purchasing full control of Ahlstrom Machinery in the event of Andritz going public. In the meantime, Ahlstrom Machinery was renamed Andritz-Ahlstrom and placed under Andritz's Pulp and Paper division.

Following the IPO, Andritz made good on completing its acquisition of full control of Andritz-Ahlstrom, buying up the rest of that subsidiary in July 2001. Another large acquisition was the purchase of the hydroelectric power division of VA Technologie in 2006, as a consequence of a decision of the European Commission in the acquisition of VA Technologie by Siemens. Experts estimated the price at €200 million. The VA Tech Hydro unit changed its name to Andritz VA Tech Hydro GmbH and became a subsidiary of Andritz AG. With 3000 employees and sales of €620 million, the unit increased the size of Andritz by one third, becoming the company's second-largest business.[4][5]

In May and June 2008, Andritz acquired hydropower technology and certain assets of GE Energy's hydropower business (including test laboratories in Canada and Brazil), as well as GE Energy's majority interest in the joint venture GE Hydro Inepar do Brasil. Since January 2009, all these acquisitions now operate under "Andritz Hydro" name. Andritz Hydro ranks among the 3 largest hydro companies (with Alstom and Voith-Siemens) with historical references back from 19th century by the acquisition over the years of the following companies and technologies, on which the Andritz Hydro group is the legal successor:

• ACM – Vevey, Switzerland
• AFI, Canada
• Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton, United States
• Bell, Switzerland
• Bouvier, France
• Bouvier-Darling, United States
• Charmilles, Switzerland
• Dominion Engineering Works, Canada
• Dominion Bridge, Canada
• Escher Wyss & Cie, Switzerland
• Ge Hydro, Canada
• Hemi Controls, Canada
• I.P.Morris, United States
• KMPT Ag, Germany[6]
• KMW, Sweden
• Lorenzo Avila, Brazil
• Pedro Molinari, Brazil
• Nohab, Sweden
• Pelton Waterwheel, United States
• Sulzer Hydro, United States
• Tampella, Finland
• Voest-Alpine Maschinenbau Gmbh, Austria
• Voest-Alpine Ag, Austria
• Voest-Alpine Mce, Austria
• Va Tech Voest Mce, Austria
• Va Tech Escher Wyss, Germany
• Va Tech Escher Wyss, Italy
• Va Tech Escher Wyss, Spain
• Va Tech Hydro, Switzerland
• Va Tech Bouvier Hydro, France
• Va Tech Hydro, Canada
• Va Tech Escher Wyss, Mexico
• Va Tech Hidro, Brazil
• Va Tech Hydro Usa Corporation
• Va Tech Hydro, Indonesia
• Va Tech Hydro Flovel, India
• Va Tech Hydro, China
• Waplans, Sweden