HIMA Group acquires Origo Solutions

HIMA Group acquires Origo Solutions

Dubai, 5 February 2024
Expansion of Process Safety in Scandinavia Digital solutions for renewable energies

The HIMA Group, leading provider of safety-related automation solutions and headquartered in Germany, has acquired the Norwegian technology company Origo Solutions. The agreement was signed on 8 January and is effective as of 31 January.

With this transaction, both companies intend to continue their growth strategies and expand their range of solutions for the process industry and renewable energies. Main focus here is the digitalisation of functional safety, which HIMA is pushing under the motto “Safety goes digital”.

“The acquisition of Origo Solutions is an important step in HIMA’s global expansion and also opens up new business opportunities for both Origo Solutions and HIMA”, said Steffen Philipp, Shareholder HIMA Group.

Origo Solutions was previously owned by Moreld AS (60,1 %) and Aker Capital AS (39,9 %) and a part of the Moreld Group, a leading industrial multi-disciplinary engineering group offering services across offshore energy and marine industries. “Origo Solutions has developed strongly over many years in collaboration with its customers and business partners. Moreld is pleased that Origo Solutions’ development will now continue as part of HIMA, building on the existing strong partnership over many years. “We are confident that this combination will benefit both customers and employees”, said Jan Erik Rugland, Executive Vice President Moreld Group and outgoing chairman of Origo Solutions.

Origo Solutions is recognised as a market leader in safety, automation and instrumented systems for monitoring, control and protection of both offshore and onshore facilities as well as complete SCADA systems for the wind industry. For more than 20 years, Origo Solutions has been HIMA’s exclusive representative in Norway.

“By joining our forces Origo Solutions and HIMA will not only strengthen our position in Scandinavia, but also open up new opportunities in the field of Renewables globally”, stated Jörg de la Motte, CEO HIMA Group.

HIMA benefits from Origo Solutions’ Application Know-How and Origo Solutions will be able to utilize HIMA’s global footprint to drive international sales, especially in the Renewables sector. As regional headquarters for Scandinavia, the Norwegian company will also take responsibility for Sales and Service in Sweden and Denmark.

Existing Origo Solutions’ customers will benefit from a broader application portfolio and from having access to HIMA’s global sales, engineering and partner network. HIMA customers in Sweden and Denmark will be served from Norway in the future, which will lead to more efficient processes and even better support.

“It’s a Win-Win-Situation for HIMA and Origo Solutions, with multiple synergies: HIMA will benefit from our long-term experience in the development of safety applications and we at Origo Solutions will be able to utilize HIMA’s enhanced applications portfolio, global sales and service to boost our business,” said Bjørn-Tore Lenes, CEO of Origo Solutions.

HIMA will ensure continuity of the management: Bjørn-Tore Lenes as CEO and Glenn Kjetil Nystøl as CFO will continue to lead Origo Solutions. The one hundred associates in Kristiansand (headquarters), Stavanger and Arendal will be keep their positions and additional hires are planned. The company will continue to trade under the name “Origo Solutions” with the addition of “A HIMA Company”.

About HIMA

The HIMA Group is a global independent provider of safety-related automation solutions for the process and rail industries that protect people, assets, and the environment from harm. Founded in 1908, the family-owned company is headquartered in Brühl, near Mannheim, (Germany).

The HIMA Group employs more than 950 employees in 21 group companies worldwide. Regional headquarters are located in Breda in the Netherlands (Europe), Stockport in England (UK), Singapore (Asia-Pacific), Shanghai (China), Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (Middle East) and Houston in the USA (North America). 

The open and independent HIMA Safety Platform combines hardware and software on a single technology platform and offers a uniform security concept. With more than 50,000 installed safety systems (SIL 3 / SIL 4, PL e, CENELEC SIL 4), HIMA is considered a technology leader. In addition to proven safety technology, HIMA offers consulting, safety engineering, and services as well as training.

This results in solutions that ensure functional safety and OT security, compliance with standards, process efficiency and plant availability throughout the entire safety lifecycle.
As a safety expert, HIMA is pioneering the digitalization of functional safety and generates significant added value for customers with holistic safety solutions.

Since the 1960s, HIMA has been a reliable partner to the world’s largest companies in the process industry, including chemicals, petrochemicals, energy and oil and gas.
Typical safety applications include Emergency Shutdown Systems (ESD), Fire & Gas (F&G) systems, Burner Control /  Management Systems (BCS/BMS) for Burners and Boilers, Turbo Machinery Control (TMC) for Turbomachinery and Compressors, Pipeline Management Control (PMC) with Leak Detection, High-Integrity Pressure Protection Systems (HIPPS) for overpressure protection of pipelines, subsea systems for the deep sea, and overfill protection systems for tank farms.

In 2015, HIMA revolutionized the railway industry with the first CENELEC SIL 4 certified Safety PLC. These commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products are open safety controllers that can be easily integrated and maintained into a wide variety of solutions. Today, HIMA also offers holistic safety solutions for applications such as level crossings, signaling interlockings, and on-board systems for rolling stock. Our rail solutions suite includes Power SCADA for Electrification, SCADA BMS for rail tunnel control, overspeed prevention systems, interlockings for railway depots, and automatic door control. 

More information at http://www.hima.com

About Origo Solutions

The origins of Origo Solutions date back to 1977 with the founding of Moland Automation, later Bjørge Safety Systems. In 2010, the Norwegian companies HitecVision and Aker Capital acquired Bjørge Safety Systems and founded Origo Solutions a year later, which was transferred to MORELD Industrial Group in 2020.

Origo Solutions is recognised as a market leader in safety, automation and instrumented systems for monitoring, control and protection of both offshore and onshore facilities in Norway as well as complete SCADA systems for the international renewable/wind industry.

Since the 70’s Origo Solutions has been focused on safety and has become a trusted HIMA Partner and the exclusive HIMA Representative in Norway in 2000. Furthermore, Origo Solutions has developed several holistic safety solutions such as SafeCom™ (High Integrity Safety Communication System), PPS (Pipeline Protection System), WIPS® (Wireless Instrumentation Protection System), Fire&Gas Detection, as well as SCADA+™, enabling increased insight, analysis, predictions and intelligent services.

Origo Solutions is headquartered in Kristiansand with regional offices in Stavanger and Arendal. In total, Origo Solutions has 100 full-time associates. More information at www.origo-solutions.com