AIAC SPONSORS STOCKHOLM BUSINESS SUMMIT, LAUNCHING THE NEW NORDICS GLOBAL CAMPAIGN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Stockholm, Sweden - January 28-29, 2026 American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) served as a key sponsor of the Stockholm Business Summit, which brought together over 80 global, Nordic, Baltic and Arctic business leaders at Stockholm's historic Grand Hotel the week of January 28, 2026.
The summit, convened by The Origination Foundation and the Origination Finance Studios just four days after the World Economic Forum in Davos, focused on accelerating European productivity, growth, and strategic business partnerships. Taking place at a moment defined by geopolitical realignment and emerging tensions over transatlantic trade, the event positioned the Nordic-Baltic region as a critical center of gravity for global industrial and financial cooperation.
The Stockholm summit launched the "New Nordics" global campaign, highlighting a 35-million-strong economic region ranking among the top 15 economies globally. With Sweden alone recording more stock listings than Germany, France, and Spain combined over the past decade, and the region raising $113 billion in fresh capital over the past five years, the New Nordics represents a model of innovation-driven industrial growth and financial market vitality.
Distinguished participants included:
Henrik Henriksson, CEO of Stegra, Sweden's green steel scale-up
Hans Vestberg, Board Member of Blackrock and former Chair & CEO of Verizon
Jakob Stausholm, former CEO of Rio Tinto
Risto Siilasmaa, Founder of F-Secure and former Chair and Interim CEO of Nokia
Niclas Mårtensson, CEO, Stena Line Group
Bridget Fawcett, Global Head, Sustainability & Corporate Transitions Investment Banking at CITI
Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, Senior Partner and CEO of Aker-ICP Infrastructure and former CEO of Statkraft
Tõnis Saar, Director of NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCoE)
Line Gordon, Director of the Stockholm Resilience Center
Liza Jonson, CEO Swedbank Robur
Professor Phoebe Koundouri, Professor at University of Athens and Cambridge University and Member of the Nominating Committee for the Nobel Prize in Economics
Professor Caroline Flammer, Columbia University
H.E. Mikaela Kumlin-Granit, Sweden's Ambassador to the European Union
Dr. Osvald Bjelland, Origination Foundation Founder and Chairman
Isabel Carro-Toro, Vice President, American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
The Stockholm Business Summit was structured around four critical themes directly relevant to AIAC's industrial portfolio and strategic interests:
Energy Transition: Chaired by Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, sessions explored financing models for large-scale green industrial projects, with Henrik Henriksson presenting Stegra's pioneering approach to financing one of the world's largest green steel facilities in Boden, Sweden.
Mobility and Connectivity: Led by Marcus Högblom, VP of ABB Marine, discussions addressed sustainable transportation infrastructure, maritime innovation, and industrial supply chain resilience.
Security & Resilience: Chaired by Risto Siilasmaa with contributions from NATO's Tõnis Saar, sessions examined critical technology gaps, cybersecurity capabilities, and the investment required to ensure European and Nordic industrial and defense resilience.
Food Systems, Health & Water: Led by Dr. Gunhild Stordalen, panels addressed sustainable resource management, pharmaceutical innovation, and health technology—sectors where several AIAC portfolio companies maintain significant operations.
Key Insights from Summit Leadership
Henrik Henriksson, CEO of Stegra, reported on the frontline challenges and achievements of financing multi-billion dollar green industrial projects: "Stegra is a purpose-built company which aims to accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries. It is also fundamentally an example of how capital can be structured to solve some of mankind's common challenges."
Dr. Osvald Bjelland, Origination Founder and Chairman, observed: "The concept of the NEW Nordics emerged in the process leading up to the Studio. This region combines historic stability with innovation and good growth. If the rest of the EU performed like Sweden, we would not be talking about a competitiveness problem."
Risto Siilasmaa, Founder of F-Secure, stated: "Closing the technology gap is central to Europe's resilience. We need to map where critical capabilities are missing, quantify the investment required to fill those gaps, and deploy both public and private resources strategically."
Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, Senior Partner and CEO of Aker-ICP Infrastructure, noted: "Energy transition projects must move from prototypes to full-scale deployment. Our job is to identify which technologies are ready, where financing bottlenecks exist, and how to structure investment to de-risk early-stage deployment at scale."
Sebastian Frisk, Partner and Head of EQT Growth, asserted: "Europe does not lack innovation; it lacks the capital and risk appetite to invest and scale projects at speed and over time."
Dr. Phoebe Koundouri, Professor and Member of the Nominating Committee for the Nobel Prize in Economics, prescribed: "Planet and human-centric capitalism driven by sustainable interaction between nature, society, and the economy is a force for good serving generations to come. It's a pathway to more and greater profits and returns for all stakeholders—humanity and nature."
AIAC's Strategic Sponsorship and Engagement
As a key sponsor of the Stockholm Business Summit, AIAC demonstrated its commitment to supporting critical dialogue on European and global industrial transformation, energy transition, and sustainable economic development. AIAC Vice President Isabel Carro-Toro worked closely with Dr. Osvald Bjelland and the Origination team in the administration and successful execution of this landmark convening.
With manufacturing and distribution facilities in 24 countries across North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia-New Zealand, AIAC maintains substantial industrial operations throughout Europe. AIAC companies' expertise spans sectors directly addressed at the summit, including advanced materials manufacturing, aerospace components, defense systems, sustainable forestry management, and critical industrial infrastructure—positioning the corporation as both a participant in and contributor to the New Nordics industrial transformation.
AIAC Chairman and Explorers Club Trustee, L. M. Levie, issued the following statement:
"AIAC was honored to serve as a key sponsor of the Stockholm Business Summit, where visionary Nordic, Baltic, and global business leaders gathered to address the critical challenges of industrial transformation, energy transition, and technological resilience. We are grateful to Dr. Osvald Bjelland and The Origination Finance Studios for their leadership in convening this important dialogue, and we extend our appreciation to Isabel Carro-Toro for her dedicated work in supporting the administration and success of this landmark event."
"The New Nordics region represents a compelling model of how innovation, sound governance, and values-based capitalism can drive sustainable industrial growth and prosperity. As a diversified industrial corporation with significant operations throughout Europe and the Nordic-Baltic region, AIAC recognizes the strategic importance of this economic corridor."
"The summit's focus on mobilizing capital for large-scale green industrial projects, closing critical technology gaps, and building resilient supply chains aligns directly with our own priorities and capabilities. We look forward to continuing our support of collaborative efforts that advance sustainable, technology-driven industrial development serving the long-term interests of all stakeholders."
About The Origination Finance Studios
The Origination Finance Studios is a global convening platform launched to expedite business and societal scale dialogue and solution sets. Anchored in the Nordic-Baltic economic leadership space, the Studios aim to accelerate new financial models and industry blueprints needed to re-engineer long-term healthy growth and prosperity. Future convenings will expand to strategic geographies, with India first among others.
For further information, please see: https://www.originationstudio.com
About American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) is a diversified industrial group with manufacturing and distribution sites in 24 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia-New Zealand. AIAC has acquired and grown non-core subsidiaries and divisions of Boeing, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Visteon, Carlyle, Ahlstrom, Tolko, Groupe Suez, Groupe Rexel, and many other leading multinational corporations.
AIAC companies serve companies and governmental entities worldwide in all major sectors, including aviation, space, defense, automotive, truck, rail, marine, petrochemical, solar, nuclear, food, confectionary, beverage, civil engineering and infrastructure, commercial construction, mining, dredging, disaster relief, education, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, AIAC companies are exclusive, authorized distributors of leading branded industrial and consumer products and serve as critical suppliers for the construction of major airports, schools, hospitals, performing arts and sports centers, offices and hotels throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. AIAC is a leading manufacturer of building, street, and highway signage in Europe, and a distributor of electrical products throughout France.
Of note, AIAC purchased Boeing Canada in 2005 and has produced over 10,000 unique components for every Boeing jet plane ever since, reliably serving Boeing from manufacturing facilities in North America. A leader in ultra-high precision jet engine component manufacturing, AIAC companies produce 2,200 fan blades for each jet engine produced by GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Honeywell.
AIAC companies actively support exploration into outer space, manufacturing critical components for launching and propelling spacecraft and satellites. AIAC customers in this sector include NASA, the European Space Agency, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing. AIAC affiliate, Champlain Cable Corporation, supported the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions with high performance wire and cable. AIAC companies also lead in the design and manufacture of undersea umbilical cables for worldwide oceanographic research.
AIAC companies produce the critical automotive wire and cable for Tesla, GM, Ford, Chrysler-Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan. In connection with its kraft paper manufacturing interests in Canada and the US, AIAC controls and sustainably manages 22 million acres of Manitoba, Canada forestland, an area equivalent in size to the nation of Hungary.
AIAC affiliate, Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen GmbH, located in Germany, designs, manufactures and distributes high performance, emergency portable power generators utilized in global conflict zones and during natural disasters.
For further information, please see: www.aiac.com
About AIAC Philanthropy
AIAC and the AIAC Foundation support a wide range of nonprofit, nonsectarian, bipartisan organizations which promote international conflict resolution, disaster relief, economic development, environmental sustainability, exploration, and the performing art
The exploration-focused nonprofit organizations which they actively support include The Explorers Club, the National Geographic Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Space Society, and the United States Space Foundation.
AIAC's beneficiaries include the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation Inc., the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - Gates Philanthropy Partners, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carter Center, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institut Française des Relations Internationales, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Crisis Group, the International Rescue Committee, the Japan Society, the JFK School of Government of Harvard University, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the Sierra Club, the Trilateral Commission, and the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute.
For further information, please see:https://www.aiac.com/our-values
Media Contact:
Isabel Carro-Toro, Vice President
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
+34 689 295 827 (Spain)
+1 787 244 3175 (USA)
icarro-toro@aiac.com