In 1948, Orion set up the drug distribution company Oriola Oy and the technochemical company Noiro. These measures represented the vertical expansion of the core business, as did the acquisition of Lääketehdas Alb. Koponen in 1960; the founding of Fermion in 1970, which initially manufactured semi-synthetic antibiotics, as a joint venture with Rikkihappo Oy, Kemira’s predecessor; and the start-up of the diagnostics business in 1968.

Orion also began to grow through diversification. The candy and beverage company Chymos was acquired in 1955. Tiwi went into business in 1962. Orion was a company focused on its home market and its growth opportunities were limited – and thus it began to seek growth, cash flow and exports in other fields, which was the general trend at that time. The company sought to lessen its dependence on the Finnish pharmaceutical market. Its subsidiaries operated very independently. Managing the corporation as a whole became difficult. As a result, earnings began to decline in the mid-1960s. In 1970, all the business areas were incorporated into the parent company, which was registered under the name Orion-yhtymä Oy.

That same year, Orion’s Supervisory Board approved a new business concept – Orion would now be prepared to focus its operations into entirely new areas if profitable investments could be found. Orion expanded into the mechanical engineering industry by acquiring Peltosalmen Konepaja, which was part of the Orion Group as the Normet division for the next 30 years. Eurocell was set up to manufacture floor and block elements for the construction industry in 1972, but its operations soon came to an end due to the oil crisis.

At the beginning of the 1980s, there were still 13 companies developing and manufacturing pharmaceuticals in Finland. Since then the industry has undergone consolidation , driven by the need for sufficient critical mass that enables longer production series, thereby lowering unit costs and raising efficiency.

Orion began to dismantle its diversified businesses in the 1990s. Normet was sold in 1999 and Noiro in 2003. At that point, Orion was purely focused on healthcare products. The scale of pharmaceutical wholesale, part of Orion’s corporate structure since 1948, grew substantially when Orion acquired a majority stake in the Swedish wholesaler Kronans Droghandel (KD) in summer 2002. The sister companies Oriola and KD became a dynamic duo in pharmaceutical wholesale in their main markets, Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries.

Gpo next to: Demerger on 30 June 2006