Milestones

1620  Foundation of Wirsbo Bruks AB by Johan de la Gardie

1900  Wirsbo begins producing steel pipes for the Swedish market

1918  Carpenter Aukusti Asko-Avonius establishes a carpentry workshop in Lahti, Finland (start of Uponor's mother company)

1938  Arvi Tammivuori, son of Asko-Avonius, founded Upo Osakeyhtiö and starts to manufacture cast iron pipes and household appliances

1947  Asko founded its first subsidiary in the USA

1964  First plastic factory starts up in Finland

1968  Wirsbo bought the license for PEX according to the Engel method

1970  Wirsbo commercialises the cross-linking process, and introduces the PEX-A tubing

1972  Wirsbo PEX pipe production started in Sweden

1982  Finnish companies Asko Oy and Neste Oy founded Oy Uponor Ab for the manufacture of PVC pipes and acquired the Lubonyl business in Fristad, Sweden, later named Uponor AB

1986  Pipe Division of Oy Finlayson Ab taken over by Uponor. Polyethylene pipes were added to the product range

1988  Uponor expands to a new business, plastic hot water pipes, by acquiring the shares of German Hewing GmbH and Swedish Wirsbo Bruks AB

          Asko Oy listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange

1990  Production of Wirsbo systems started in Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA

1991  Acquisition of Aldyl gas pipe business in the UK, USA and Argentina

1997  40% shareholding acquired in the German Unicor AG

1998  Radius Plastics Limited, UK, cable conduit company acquired

1999  Uponor's ownership in Unicor AG increased to 100%

2000  Merger of Asko Oyj and Oy Uponor Ab, company's name as of 1 January Uponor Corporation

2003 to 2006  Uponor divests its municipal water and sewer systems in the US and in the South- and East-Europe

2006 One Unified Uponor brand taken into use

2008 Uponor divests infrastructure business in the UK and Ireland