History

More than 50 years ago, a man was taking his daily walk close to the border between Norway and Sweden. In beautiful surroundings, it was his favourite time of day … until he got to the border and was disturbed by what he saw there. But it was also the beginning of something great. Karl G Hansson had discovered a problem and created a solution.

Closing the gap between truck drivers and customs officers

In the early 1960s, Karl G Hansson was living very close to the border between Norway and Sweden. Daily, he watched queues of trucks building up and slowing down the border crossing. He just could not see the reason behind it. While on his daily walk, he talked to the truck drivers and the customs officers in both countries. He realised the huge gap that existed between them. He felt they lacked experience on the right legislation and how to use it, plus they did not have the flexibility or the capacity to improve the situation.

Being an entrepreneur, Mr. Hansson saw the need for a middleman and decided to establish a company. The idea was that the company should fill the gap and act as an intermediate between customs on one side, and importers and exporters on the other, in order to facilitate border-crossing procedures. And so, KGH was born!

A solid ground, built for the future

Today, more than fifty years later, KGH is the major customs broker at the border between Norway and Sweden, and an important actor in many European countries. Our skills and competence have been developed continuously to meet new demands from our customers. When it comes to customs, we always strive to be at the forefront.

KGH Milestones

• 1963
  Foundation of KGH
• 1993
  European Union is created
• 1996
  Company changes name to KGH Spedition
• 2006
  KGH opens a new office in Kiel, Germany
• 2007
  Procuritas acquires the company
  Changes name to KGH Customs Services
• 2008
  KGH acquires Van Aert Douane in Belgium
• 2009
  KGH receives AEO certification in Sweden
• 2010
  KGH acquires Hannl + Hofstetter in Austria
  KGH opens a new office in Hamburg, Germany
• 2011
  KGH acquires Kuper Douaneservice in the Netherlands and ESC Systems in Denmark
• 2012
  KGH opens a new office in Haparanda, Sweden
• 2013
  KGH celebrates its 50-year anniversary
  KGH opens a new office in Håby, Sweden and in Århus, Denmark
  Bridgepoint acquires the company
• 2014
  KGH opens new offices in Stockholm, Sweden and in Karlsruhe, Germany, as well as Marseille (France), Turin (Italy) and Prague (Czech Republic)
• 2015
  KGH opens new offices in Karlshamn (Sweden), Le Havre (France) and Frankfurt (Germany)
  KGH acquires Atlas Spedition in Finland, Gee´s Customs Solutions in the Netherlands and Tromsø Spedisjonsservice AS in Norway
• 2016
  KGH acquires AOB Außenwirtschafts- und Organisationsberatung GmbH
• 2017
  KGH acquires SEK Zollagentur GmbH
  KGH enters strategic partnership with Centre for Customs and Excise Studies (CCES)
  KGH acquires ArcticTARIFF
• 2018
  KGH expands into UK/Ireland with a headquarter in Manchester
• 2019
  KGH acquires Hermes & Richard AG in Switzerland
  KGH acquires Navitro AS
• 2020
  A.P. Moller – Maersk acquires KGH