ASEA

This article is about the Swedish company. For the American company, see ASEA (American company).

Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget

ASEA HQ in Västerås
Company type	Publicly traded aktiebolag
Industry	Electrical engineering
Founded	1883 (1883)
Defunct	31 December 1987 (1987-12-31) (merged with Brown Boveri to form ABB)
Successor	ABB
Headquarters	Västerås, Västmanland , Sweden

Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company.

History

ASEA swastika logo used from the late nineteenth century until 1933

ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås as a manufacturer of electrical light and generators. After merging with Wenström's & Granström's Electrical Power Company (Wenströms & Granströms Elektriska Kraftbolag) the name was changed to Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget, literally the "General Swedish Electrical Limited Company", or ASEA for short.

In 1987, it announced a merger with the Swiss company Brown, Boveri & Cie (BBC) to form ABB. The merge took effect on 1 January 1988. After this merger, ABB acquired several companies, including the power transmission and distribution operations of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and the Combustion Engineering Group.

• 1889 – the partner Jonas Wenström creates 3-phased generators, motors and transformers.
• 1933 – The company removes the swastika from its logo, due to the symbol's association with Nazi Germany.
• 1953 – ASEA creates the first industrial diamonds.
• 1954 – HVDC Gotland project, first static high-voltage DC system
• 1960s – ASEA builds nine of 12 nuclear plants in Sweden.
• 1968 – ASEA's elevator business gets acquired by Kone
• 1974 – Industrial robots are introduced by ASEA
• 1987 – Acquires Finnish Oy Strömberg Ab
• 1988 – Merges with Brown, Boveri & Cie, Asea Cylinda laundry appliances branch bought by Finnish furniture maker Asko, renamed Asko ASEA.

Business management

CEOs

• 1883–1891 – Ludvig Fredholm
• 1891–1903 – Göran Wenström
• 1903–1933 – Sigfrid Edström
• 1934–1942 – Arthur Lindén
• 1942–1949 – Thorsten Ericson
• 1949–1961 – Åke Vrethem
• 1961–1976 – Curt Nicolin
• 1976–1980 – Torsten L. Lindström
• 1980–1988 – Percy Barnevik

Chairman of the Board

• 1891–1891 – Ludvig Fredholm
• 1892–1909 – Oscar Fredrik Wijkman
• 1910–1914 – Oscar Wallenberg
• 1914–1933 – Sten Ankarcrona
• 1934–1949 – Sigfrid Edström
• 1949–1956 – Thorsten Ericson
• 1956–1976 – Marcus Wallenberg
• 1976–1991 – Curt Nicolin

See also

• ASEA IRB – robot
• Asko
• Hitachi Energy
• Sigfrid Edström
• Uno Lamm

Further reading

• Jan Glete, Asea under hundra år: 1883–1983: en studie i ett storföretags organisatoriska, tekniska och ekonomiska utveckling. (Västerås, 1987). (in Swedish).