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title: ISS A/S - Wikipedia
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> **Original source:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISS_A/S?utm_source=openai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ISS A/S

Type

[Public](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_company "Public company")

[Traded as](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticker_symbol "Ticker symbol")

[Nasdaq Copenhagen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasdaq_Copenhagen "Nasdaq Copenhagen"): [ISS](https://www.nasdaq.com/european-market-activity/shares/ISS?id=CSE80901)

[ISIN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Securities_Identification_Number "International Securities Identification Number")

DK0060542181 

Founded

1901; 125 years ago

Headquarters

[Copenhagen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen "Copenhagen"), Denmark

Key people

[Kasper Fangel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasper_Fangel?action=edit&redlink=1 "Kasper Fangel (page does not exist)") ([CEO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_executive_officer "Chief executive officer"))[\[1\]](#cite_note-1)  
[Niels Smedegaard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Smedegaard?action=edit&redlink=1 "Niels Smedegaard (page does not exist)")[\[2\]](#cite_note-2) ([chairman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman "Chairman"))  
[Lars Petersson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Petersson "Lars Petersson")[\[3\]](#cite_note-3) ([deputy chairman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_chairman "Deputy chairman"))

Revenue

69.823 billion [DKK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_krone "Danish krone") (2020)[\[4\]](#cite_note-4)

[Operating income](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnings_before_interest_and_taxes "Earnings before interest and taxes")

![Increase](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Increase2.svg/20px-Increase2.svg.png?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail) 3.226 billion [DKK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_krone "Danish krone") (2020)[\[5\]](#cite_note-5)

[Net income](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_income "Net income")

![Increase](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Increase2.svg/20px-Increase2.svg.png?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail) 5,195 million [DKK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_krone "Danish krone") (2020)[\[6\]](#cite_note-6)

[Total assets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset "Asset")

48,782,000,000 Danish krone (2016) 

Number of employees

378,946 (2020)[\[7\]](#cite_note-7)

Website

[issworld.com](http://issworld.com/)

**ISS A/S** (International Service System) is a [facility management](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facility_management "Facility management") services company founded in [Copenhagen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen "Copenhagen"), [Denmark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark "Denmark") in 1901. ISS's core services include: security, cleaning, technical, food and workplace. The ISS Group’s [revenue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue "Revenue") amounted to DKK 69.823 billion in 2020 and ISS has nearly 400,000 employees and activities in countries across Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and the Pacific.[\[8\]](#cite_note-8)

The company was founded in 1901 in [Copenhagen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen "Copenhagen"), [Denmark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark "Denmark") as a small security company with 20 night watchmen named **København-Frederiksberg Nattevagt** (English: _Copenhagen-Frederiksberg Night Watch_). The company expanded into the cleaning business with the establishment of **Det Danske Rengørings Selskab** (_The Danish Cleaning Company_) in 1934 as an independent subsidiary of the security company. It then expanded into Sweden in 1946 when a Swedish subsidiary established. The company adopted its current name, **International Service System**, in 1968.\[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed "Wikipedia:Citation needed")_\]

ISS expanded into Austria and Spain in 1971, at the same time that it acquired part of [Servi Systems Oy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servi_Systems_Oy?action=edit&redlink=1 "Servi Systems Oy (page does not exist)"). It began expanding overseas in 1973 and its global revenue surpassed 1 billion [DKK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_krone "Danish krone") in 1975. ISS went public in 1977 when its shares were listed on the [Copenhagen Stock Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Stock_Exchange "Copenhagen Stock Exchange"). The firm takes a major stake in the New York based [Prudential Building Maintenance Corp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudential_Building_Maintenance_Corp.?action=edit&redlink=1 "Prudential Building Maintenance Corp. (page does not exist)") in 1979. By 1989, the total number of employees under the Group reached 100,000.\[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed "Wikipedia:Citation needed")_\]

The U.S.-based arm of the company was merged and sold off in 1995 after the discovery of about a decade of accounting irregularities. In 1999 ISS acquired Abilis, the second largest European provider of cleaning and specialised services, in a DKK 3.6 billion acquisition, the Group’s largest ever. Abilis had about 50,000 employees and annual revenues of 5.2 billion DKK in 1998. The total number of employees in the Group reached 200,000 in 1999, doubling in just 10 years. In 2005, ISS A/S was acquired by funds advised by [EQT AB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EQT_AB "EQT AB") and [Goldman Sachs Alternatives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman_Sachs_Alternatives "Goldman Sachs Alternatives"), and delisted from the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. The next year, the second-largest acquisition in company history was made when ISS acquired the outstanding 51% of the shares in Tempo Services in Australia. In 2007, it expanded its portfolio in the United States through the acquisition of Sanitors Inc.\[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed "Wikipedia:Citation needed")_\]

By 2010, ISS's revenue had passed 70 billion DKK and it total number of employees had reached 500,000.[\[9\]](#cite_note-9) The British security company [G4S](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G4S "G4S") announced in 2011 it will acquire ISS in a deal worth £5.2 billion.[\[10\]](#cite_note-10) The deal was later shelved, owing to shareholder unrest.[\[11\]](#cite_note-11) In 2012, [Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Teachers'_Pension_Plan "Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan") and [Lego Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Group "Lego Group") owners [KIRKBI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIRKBI "KIRKBI") Invest A/S make EUR 500 million investment in ISS.[\[12\]](#cite_note-12) ISS was listed on the OMX Nasdaq [Copenhagen Stock Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Stock_Exchange "Copenhagen Stock Exchange") in 2014 in Denmark’s largest IPO in two decades.[\[13\]](#cite_note-13) ISS entered a commercial agreement with [IBM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM "IBM") in 2016 to use [IBM Watson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Watson "IBM Watson")'s [Internet of Things](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_things "Internet of things") platform to transform the management of over 25,000 buildings around the world.[\[14\]](#cite_note-14)

In 2016, the company acquired UK, Ireland, and European activities of UK-based GS Hall, a technical services company focused on mechanical and electrical engineering, energy management, and compliance.[\[15\]](#cite_note-15) That same year, it acquired Chile's fourth largest [catering company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catering_company "Catering company"), Apunto, with an annual revenue of DKK 116 million in 2015.[\[16\]](#cite_note-16) In April 2017, ISS announced that it had acquired US catering services company Guckenheimer with an annual revenue of approximately DKK 2,300 million and 3,200 employees in 33 US states.[\[17\]](#cite_note-17) The company signed its largest customer agreement in its history in 2017 with Deutsche Telekom, covering approximately 9,000 sites across Germany, more than 6,000 employees and about 4% of Group revenue.[\[18\]](#cite_note-18)

**Principal Subsidiaries**\[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed "Wikipedia:Citation needed")_\]

1.  ISS Europe A/S
2.  ISS Services A/S
3.  ISS Finans A/S
4.  ISS Nordic A/S
5.  ISS Overseas A/S

**Principal Divisions**\[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed "Wikipedia:Citation needed")_\]

1.  CarePartner
2.  Damage Control
3.  Facility Services
4.  Food Services
5.  ISS Aviation

-   [Facility management](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facility_management "Facility management")
-   [List of largest Danish companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_Danish_companies "List of largest Danish companies")

1.  [↑](#cite_ref-1) ["ISS appoints Kasper Fangel as new Group CEO - ISS World"](https://www.issworld.com/en/news/2023/06/29/new-group-ceo).
2.  [↑](#cite_ref-2) ["Board of Directors"](https://www.issworld.com/en-gb/about/global-management-and-organisation/board-of-directors).
3.  [↑](#cite_ref-3) ["Board of Directors"](https://www.issworld.com/en-gb/about/global-management-and-organisation/board-of-directors).
4.  [↑](#cite_ref-4) ["ISS Annual Report 2020"](https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf) (PDF).
5.  [↑](#cite_ref-5) ["ISS Annual Report 2020"](https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf) (PDF).
6.  [↑](#cite_ref-6) ["ISS Annual Report 2020"](https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf) (PDF).
7.  [↑](#cite_ref-7) ["ISS Annual Report 2020"](https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf) (PDF).
8.  [↑](#cite_ref-8) ["ISS Annual Report 2020"](https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf) (PDF).
9.  [↑](#cite_ref-9) ["Introduction to ISS"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130406221249/http://www.issworld.com/about_iss/introduction_to_iss/pages/history.aspx). Archived from [the original](http://www.issworld.com/about_iss/introduction_to_iss/pages/history.aspx) on 2013-04-06. Retrieved 2013-03-18. ISS History
10.  [↑](#cite_ref-10) [G4S shares tumble on £5.2bn ISS takeover deal](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15331424) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191115041650/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15331424) 2019-11-15 at the [Wayback Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine "Wayback Machine") BBC News
11.  [↑](#cite_ref-11) [G4S abandons £5.2bn ISS takeover deal](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15533826) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190426220748/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15533826) 2019-04-26 at the [Wayback Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine "Wayback Machine") BBC News
12.  [↑](#cite_ref-12) Teachers' and KIRKBI make EUR 500 million equity investment in ISS\[[link removed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:ATODAY "Wikipedia:ATODAY")\] ISS Press Releases
13.  [↑](#cite_ref-13) David, Ruth (13 March 2014). ["ISS Shares Advance in Denmark's Biggest IPO in Two Decades"](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-13/goldman-s-iss-sells-shares-in-biggest-danish-ipo-in-two-decades.html). _Bloomberg_. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150110122624/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-13/goldman-s-iss-sells-shares-in-biggest-danish-ipo-in-two-decades.html) from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
14.  [↑](#cite_ref-14) ["ISS Turns to IBM Watson IoT to put the Human Touch into buildings"](https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2016/06/30/iss-turns-to-ibm-watson-iot-to-put-the-human-touch-into-buildings). _www.issworld.com_. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191115041707/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2016/06/30/iss-turns-to-ibm-watson-iot-to-put-the-human-touch-into-buildings) from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
15.  [↑](#cite_ref-15) ["ISS acquires leading technical services business"](https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2015/01/20/iss-acquires-leading-technical-services-business). _www.issworld.com_. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191115043212/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2015/01/20/iss-acquires-leading-technical-services-business) from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
16.  [↑](#cite_ref-16) ["ISS acquires leading catering business in Chile"](https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2016/11/02/iss-acquires-leading-catering-business-in-chile). _www.issworld.com_. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191115041705/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2016/11/02/iss-acquires-leading-catering-business-in-chile) from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
17.  [↑](#cite_ref-17) ["ISS acquires leading US food services company"](https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2017/04/04/iss-acquires-leading-us-food-services-company). _www.issworld.com_. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165227/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2017/04/04/iss-acquires-leading-us-food-services-company) from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
18.  [↑](#cite_ref-18) ["ISS will deliver Facility Services to Deutsche Telekom"](https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2017/10/18/iss-will-deliver-facility-services-to-deutsche-telekom). _www.issworld.com_. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165158/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2017/10/18/iss-will-deliver-facility-services-to-deutsche-telekom) from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-22.

-   [International website](http://www.issworld.com/)
-   [Danish website](http://www.iss.dk/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20030323065906/http://www.iss.dk/) 2003-03-23 at the [Wayback Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine "Wayback Machine")
-   [Water Damage Restoration](https://fine-restoration.com/)