Ahlstrom announced that it is implementing a refined strategy focused on global trends for sustainable materials and is simplifying its divisional structure from five to three business units.
Ahlstrom explained that market opportunities in the coming years include the transition toward clean air and water, personalized healthcare, sustainable packaging and protection, decarbonized buildings, and electrification — and sustainable materials will be needed to address each of these trends.
The company has defined five strategic pillars:
To do so, the former Filtration and Healthcare divisions merge to form Filtration and Life Sciences division, Food and Consumer Packaging remains the same, and the former Building Materials and Technical Materials divisions form the new Protective Materials division.
According to Ahlstrom, the business units and plants remain the heart of its business and operations and their structure will not change. The streamlined structure will drive simplicity, take out cost and will allow the business units to further focus on driving growth.
"We are taking further steps to become the sustainable specialty materials company with our refined strategy and simplified organization that is best equipped to support our customers and the world to address global trends," said Helen Mets, President and CEO of Ahlstrom. Our products touch the lives of people on a daily basis, from more sustainable and safe solutions for food and beverage packaging, to filtration materials for cleaner air and water, to materials that support better healthcare and life science diagnostics. Our sustainable specialty solutions add value for customers and consumers globally while contributing to a better world. With our strong focus on innovations that are safe and sustainable by design, I'm filled with confidence in Ahlstrom's future."
The ambitions of the new divisions are:
Filtration and Life Sciences: The division aims to expand in industrial filtration and bioprocessing, leveraging clean air and water and personalized healthcare trends. Daniele Borlatto, previously EVP, Filtration division is appointed as EVP, Filtration & Life Sciences division.
Food and Consumer Packaging: The division has the ambition to lead the transition from single-use plastic to more sustainable packaging, leveraging new barrier solutions and high-performance materials that are safe and sustainable by design. The search for a new division head is ongoing.
Protective Materials: The division has the ambition to offer sustainable solutions for the decarbonization of buildings and industrial electrification and grow in niche, high-performance industrial applications. Sophie Haan, previously EVP, Technical Materials division is appointed as EVP, Protective Materials division.
Mark Ushpol, EVP for Food & Consumer Packaging division, Emmanuelle Picard, EVP for Building Materials division, and Jacques Lafon, EVP for Healthcare division will leave to pursue careers outside Ahlstrom.
The changes in organization are effective from May 1, 2024. Financial reporting according to the new divisional structure starts from July 1, 2024, and the financial results for Q3 2024 in line with this new structure will be published in early November.
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