New owner for KCL piloting and laboratory services

Innomaterials Oy acquired piloting and laboratory operations of Oy Keskuslaboratorio-Centrallaboratorium Ab (KCL) to continue the service for the forest industry and bio industry in the same premises in Otaniemi, Espoo, Finland. KCL personnel will transfer to Innomaterials Oy as old employees in the transaction. Innomaterials Oy aims to continue the business with the traditional name Oy Keskuslaboratorio-Centrallaboratorium Ab and the KCL trademark.  The real estate operations of KCL are not included in the sale.

The CEO of Innomaterials Oy, PhD, MBA Marko Lauraeus states that “our goal is to continue the honorable, more than 100-year-old business of KCL and further develop it to serve our clients in a more versatile way. “We see a remarkable potential in developing services for a wider, global client base while maintaining and developing high-quality laboratory and test operations for the current client base.”

KCL board chairman Juhani Pitkänen explains that “the sellers of the business have been searching for a new owner with the ability, skill and strong will to develop KCL business to meet the needs of the changing market. This transaction ensures the continuity of the essential experimental and laboratory activities and enables the expansion of the service into new areas of the bioeconomy“.

KCL represents a research, test drive, piloting and laboratory service company founded by Finnish forest industry in 1916. The company is owned by Metsä Board Oyj, Metsä Fibre Oy, Stora Enso Oyj and UPM-Kymmene Oyj. KCL employs more than thirty professionals and serves biomaterial and circular economy clients globally, offering a wide range of testing, piloting, laboratory and scale-up services. The real estate operations of KCL are not included in the sale.

Innomaterials Oy is founded by Finnish biotechnology and financial entrepreneurs as well as KCL management to continue KCL business as of January 1, 2023.

Further information:

Marko Lauraeus, CEO of Innomaterials Oy
marko.lauraeus@kcl.fi,
+358 45 673 4159

Timo Lehto, KCL CEO
timo.lehto@kcl.fi,
+358 40 5520 371