ISS A/S

{{Infobox company

| name = ISS A/S

| logo = 180px

| type = Public

| traded_as = {{OMX|CSE80901|ISS}}

| foundation = {{start date and age|1901}}

| location = Copenhagen, Denmark

| key_people = Kasper Fangel (CEO){{cite web | url=https://www.issworld.com/en/news/2023/06/29/new-group-ceo | title=ISS appoints Kasper Fangel as new Group CEO - ISS World }}
Niels Smedegaard{{cite web | url=https://www.issworld.com/en-gb/about/global-management-and-organisation/board-of-directors | title=Board of Directors }} (chairman)

Lars Petersson{{cite web | url=https://www.issworld.com/en-gb/about/global-management-and-organisation/board-of-directors | title=Board of Directors }} (deputy chairman)

| revenue = 69.823 billion DKK (2020){{Cite web|title=ISS Annual Report 2020|url=https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf}}

| net_income = {{profit}} 5,195 million DKK (2020){{Cite web|title=ISS Annual Report 2020|url=https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf}}

| operating_income = {{profit}} 3.226 billion DKK (2020){{Cite web|title=ISS Annual Report 2020|url=https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf}}

| num_employees = 378,946 (2020){{Cite web|title=ISS Annual Report 2020|url=https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf}}

| homepage = {{URL|http://issworld.com/}}|

}}

ISS A/S (International Service System) is a facility management services company founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1901. ISS's core services include: security, cleaning, technical, food and workplace. The ISS Group’s 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.{{Cite web|title=ISS Annual Report 2020|url=https://brand.issworld.com/m/4169fd395b94c41/original/ISS-Annual-Report-2020.pdf}}

History

The company was founded in 1901 in Copenhagen, 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|date=August 2022}}

ISS expanded into Austria and Spain in 1971, at the same time that it acquired part of Servi Systems Oy. It began expanding overseas in 1973 and its global revenue surpassed 1 billion DKK in 1975. ISS went public in 1977 when its shares were listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. The firm takes a major stake in the New York based Prudential Building Maintenance Corp in 1979. By 1989, the total number of employees under the Group reached 100,000.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

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 and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, 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|date=August 2022}}

By 2010, ISS's revenue had passed 70 billion DKK and it total number of employees had reached 500,000.{{cite web|url=http://www.issworld.com/about_iss/introduction_to_iss/pages/history.aspx|title=Introduction to ISS|access-date=2013-03-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406221249/http://www.issworld.com/about_iss/introduction_to_iss/pages/history.aspx|archive-date=2013-04-06}} ISS History The British security company G4S announced in 2011 it will acquire ISS in a deal worth £5.2 billion.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15331424 G4S shares tumble on £5.2bn ISS takeover deal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115041650/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15331424|date=2019-11-15}} BBC News The deal was later shelved, owing to shareholder unrest.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15533826 G4S abandons £5.2bn ISS takeover deal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426220748/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15533826|date=2019-04-26}} BBC News In 2012, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Lego Group owners KIRKBI Invest A/S make EUR 500 million investment in ISS.[https://archive.today/20130126170102/http://www.issworld.com/press/press_releases/archive_2012/Pages/Teachers_and_KIRKBI_make_EUR_500_million_equity_investment_in_ISS.aspx Teachers' and KIRKBI make EUR 500 million equity investment in ISS] ISS Press Releases ISS was listed on the OMX Nasdaq Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 2014 in Denmark’s largest IPO in two decades.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-13/goldman-s-iss-sells-shares-in-biggest-danish-ipo-in-two-decades.html|work=Bloomberg|first=Ruth|last=David|title=ISS Shares Advance in Denmark's Biggest IPO in Two Decades|date=13 March 2014|access-date=7 March 2017|archive-url=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|archive-date=10 January 2015|url-status=live}} ISS entered a commercial agreement with IBM in 2016 to use IBM Watson's Internet of Things platform to transform the management of over 25,000 buildings around the world.{{Cite web|url=https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2016/06/30/iss-turns-to-ibm-watson-iot-to-put-the-human-touch-into-buildings|title=ISS Turns to IBM Watson IoT to put the Human Touch into buildings|website=www.issworld.com|access-date=2019-11-17|archive-url=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|archive-date=2019-11-15|url-status=live}}

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.{{Cite web|title=ISS acquires leading technical services business|url=https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2015/01/20/iss-acquires-leading-technical-services-business|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115043212/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2015/01/20/iss-acquires-leading-technical-services-business|archive-date=2019-11-15|access-date=2019-11-17|website=www.issworld.com}} That same year, it acquired Chile's fourth largest catering company, Apunto, with an annual revenue of DKK 116 million in 2015.{{Cite web|title=ISS acquires leading catering business in Chile|url=https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2016/11/02/iss-acquires-leading-catering-business-in-chile|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115041705/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2016/11/02/iss-acquires-leading-catering-business-in-chile|archive-date=2019-11-15|access-date=2019-11-17|website=www.issworld.com}} 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.{{Cite web|title=ISS acquires leading US food services company|url=https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2017/04/04/iss-acquires-leading-us-food-services-company|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165227/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2017/04/04/iss-acquires-leading-us-food-services-company|archive-date=2018-02-22|access-date=2018-02-22|website=www.issworld.com|language=en}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2017/10/18/iss-will-deliver-facility-services-to-deutsche-telekom|title=ISS will deliver Facility Services to Deutsche Telekom|website=www.issworld.com|language=en|access-date=2018-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165158/https://www.issworld.com/press/news/2017/10/18/iss-will-deliver-facility-services-to-deutsche-telekom|archive-date=2018-02-22|url-status=live}}