Where we come from: Sto - a family history
The Sto success story begins in 1954 in Stühlingen. Even then, Fritz Stotmeister - son of Wilhelm Stotmeister - had the right instinct to invest in a new product at the right time: an organic plaster by the Swiss inventor Silvio Pietroboni. ispo-Putz KG was founded on the basis of the new synthetic resin plaster. Fritz Stotmeister turned what was then a three-man operation into an international company that now has more than 5,500 employees worldwide.
Tradition & responsibility
To this day, Sto is still a family company whose fortunes are still managed by members of the Stotmeister family, which owns it. This has a positive effect in many respects: We act responsibly and maintain close, personal contact with our market partners. We advise holistically and take care of a project from the first planning to the last detail.
We also rely on the family as a success factor for our employees by creating a climate characterized by mutual respect and a high level of identification with the company.
Milestones of Sto
- 1835: Founding of the cement and lime works in Weizen
- 1936: Wilhelm Stotmeister buys the Weizen cement and lime works and founds the “Cement- und Kalkwerk Weizen – Stotmeister & Cie. KG”
- 1954: Acquisition of the license for synthetic resin plaster and start of production
- 1961: Opening of the first branches in Germany
- 1962: Year of birth of the Sto brand. ispo-Putz KG becomes Stotmeister & Co. Farben- und Baustoff-KG
- 1970: First exports to Austria
- 1972: First subsidiary in Switzerland
- 1979: Founded Sto Corp. in the USA. Further subsidiaries in France, Austria and Scandinavia follow
- 1988: Conversion of Stotmeister GmbH into Sto AG
- 1992: IPO (initial public offering)
- 1996: Founding of StoCretec GmbH
- 1996: Laying of the foundation stone for the communications building
- 1997: Completion of the new K building in Stühlingen-Weizen
- 1999: Certification according to DIN EN ISO 14001 at the Stühlingen site
- 2000: Acquisition of Shanghai DINOVA Ltd., China
- 2001/2002: Merger of Sto and ispo
- 2003: StoCretec gets new headquarters in Kriftel near Frankfurt
- 2003: Acquisition of paint manufacturer Sicof S.A.S. in France
- 2003: Completion of the "Sto 2003" service factory in Weizen
- 2006: Opening of the Sto-Infofabrik with 800 m² at the Weizen location
- 2010: Entry of the Sto Group into insulating material production at the Lauingen site
- 2011: Founding of Innolation GmbH, Lauingen
- 2011: Takeover of the Czech manufacturer and direct seller of ETIC systems STOMIX spol. s.r.o.
- 2011: Acquisition of a production company in Chile
- 2012: Foundation of the subsidiaries in Colombia and Turkey
- 2014: Foundation of the subsidiary in Mexico
- 2014: STo AG becomes Sto SE & Co. KGaA
- 2015: Foundation of the subsidiary in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- 2015: The two natural stone companies of the Sto Group, Neumeyer & Brigl and HEMM.Stone, merge to form VeroStone GmbH
- 2016: Majority stake in Ströher GmbH (complete takeover in 2019) and takeover of Hesselberg Bygg AS, Norway
- 2016: New reception and office building from Sto receives DGNB certification in platinum
- 2017: Sto takes a stake in JONAS Farbenwerke GmbH & Co. KG
- 2018: Acquisition of Liaver GmbH & Co. KG, Germany
- 2019: Majority stake in Skyrise Prefab Building Solutions Inc., Toronto/Canada and acquisition of Unitex, Australia
- 2020: Majority stake in Viacor Polymer GmbH
- 2021: Sto acquires the remaining shares in JONAS Farbenwerke GmbH & Co. KG. This makes the company a fully-fledged Sto subsidiary
- 2022: Sto acquires the remaining shares in Sto Italia S.r.l., Italy
- 2023: Sto acquires the remaining shares in Viacor Polymer GmbH, Germany
- 2023: Sale of OOO Sto Russia, Russia
- 2024: Acquisition of Stoanz Ltd, New Zealand