About Us
The Mustad Group traces its origins to 1832 in Norway. Today, under the stewardship of the family’s seventh generation, Mustad United C.O. AB—established in Sweden in 1913—has evolved into a decentralised industrial group with global operations across multiple sectors. Each company within the group manages its activities independently while upholding the values that have guided us for nearly two centuries: quality, innovation, and sustainability.
Our Values
Built to Last, Run Locally
For nearly two centuries, the Mustad Group has built industrial businesses with a long-term perspective. Quality, integrity, and responsibility guide how we work, while our decentralised structure gives each company the freedom to remain entrepreneurial, apply its specialist expertise, and stay close to its customers.
Innovation That Lasts
Innovation and sustainability shape how we create lasting value. Our companies invest in people and technology, continually improve their products and processes, and use resources more responsibly. Combining strong local roots with an international outlook, we build enduring relationships and contribute positively to our customers, employees, communities, and future generations.
Our story
Mustad’s story began in 1832 with a small nail and steel-wire factory near Gjøvik, Norway. The Mustad family assumed ownership in 1843, and successive generations developed the business into a leading manufacturer of wire-based products, including nails, screws, horseshoe nails, and fishhooks.
Mechanical innovation soon became a defining strength. Mustad developed advanced machinery for automated production, creating important competitive advantages and building an international reputation for quality and reliability. Under third-generation owner Hans Mustad, the company expanded rapidly across Europe. By the mid-1920s, the Group employed approximately 8,000 people in 13 countries and held leading positions in several specialist markets.
An important connection to today’s Group was established in 1912, when the Mustad family acquired a factory in Pinerolo, Italy, to manufacture horseshoe nails under the name O. Mustad & Figlio. The following year, Mustad United C.O. AB was founded in Sweden. The Italian business soon demonstrated the same capacity for adaptation that had driven the wider Group: it introduced cold forging in 1924 and began producing wood screws in 1928, laying the foundations for what would become Mustad S.p.A.
This period also established a business model that remains central to Mustad United: specialised companies led by entrepreneurial managers, serving clearly defined markets through high-quality products, dependable service, and close customer relationships. This decentralised structure helped the Group navigate profound economic and political change while continuing to evolve.
Today, under the stewardship of the seventh generation, Mustad United carries this industrial heritage forward through independent companies united by innovation, resilience, sustainability, and long-term thinking.
