Fisks Han
Fisks Han, also known simply as Fisks or FH is a multinational shipping and logistics company. Its business activities include shipping, port operation, supply chain management and warehousing through several subsidiaries. The company is based in XXX, Kamura and Berewan, Sokoku with subsidiaries and offices across 130 countries and over 200,000 employees worldwide.
History
The roots of Fisks Han go back to latter days of the Greater Stoldavic Empire, when a local stim of fishermen in the city of Talpå (currently Vittmark) started using their assets in sailing equipment and market rights for more general trade purposes. An exact starting date for the change is impossible to pinpoint, but when Talpå declared a city state in 7119 a stim company called Fisks Handelshus was registered as the main trading guild.
The location of Talpå between the kingdoms of Ådalen and Hagen, on the mouth of the border river between those states, was the main reason for the city's wealth during the 72nd to 75th centuries. Talpå created staple ports on both river banks, operated by Fisks Handelshus and thus creating a trade monopoly in the region. With this position as a base, Fisks started building a seagoing trading fleet in the 74th and 75th centuries, engaging in the trade of colonial goods. However, Fisks did not have any cargo routes to Anarian colonies, instead it traded colonial goods in port towns in Auresia, Livaria and Anisora instead. Fisks as a company and the extended family owning and operating it became the most influential political factor in the city state, delivering mayors for decades in a row.
During the Pan-Anarian War, Fisks militarised its merchant fleet, guaranteeing it could continue trading. The stim's position within the city state government meant that the dividing lines between the extended family, the trading company and the city's military faded out. As such, Fisks became a factor within the Pan-Anarian War, especially withing the region of northern Stoldavia where Hagen and Ådalen had different allegiances with the combating coalitions. Talpå became a target within the war, with Ådalen making a great effort to conquer the city and gain control over the ports and shipbuilding facilities.
In 7523, Fisks decided to leave the besieged city and continue operations from elsewhere. With Talpå now occupied by Ådalen, the merchant fleet became stateless by default. The 900 people aboard the 9 steam cargo ships first established a base in Cykeria (Jorveh) but had to move several times in the following years since any Fisks base became a target for the Central Alliance. In the 7530's the fleet moved towards the Shangti Ocean through the Arctic Passage north of The Bind and settled on an island the named Karolinasö between The Bind and Kamurua. Without the imminent dangers of war torn Anaria, Fisks was able to establish bases on nearby islands like Henkesö. Fisks Handelshus established both trade relations, logistic facilities and manufacturing on these islands, de facto operating as a company governed state. During the 7540's further bases were established further south on small islands in a poorly defined border region between the Hallisian colony of Bowersland and the Häverist colony of Schangtienrand.
Fisks' headquarters were moved to Carlsö off the coast off Bowersland, since the stim leadership preferred the living conditions in the smaller staple port much more than in the industrial ports of the northern islands. This did however mean that Fisks attracted the attention of Anarian colonising nations once again. For political reasons, Fisks' operations were labelled as smuggling and piracy, since Fisks' fleet wasn't registered anywhere else than on their own islands. States like Helreich, Halland, The Bind and Kamura had never acknowledged the de facto rule of Fisks over these islands.
In order to avoid getting occupied by other Anarian nations, Fisks made the bold move to contact the newly formed state of Vittmark in 7570, that was still overseen by a joint Anarian peacekeeping force. The main idea was that Fisks' islands as a part of Vittmark would automatically mean an end to military hostilities towards Fisks, since most colonising nations were involved in peacekeeping in Vittmark. As such, Fisks' islands became an autonomous member state of Vittmark in 7575, which meant that Fisks' own militia now got support from federal military against possible threats from nearby colonisers.
However, Vittmark came into conflict with the Aedelish Technate and as such the entire Häverist community, including Helreich as coloniser of nearby Schangtienrand. Fisks would be an easy target, so it was in the interest of Fisks to make sure that the internal conflicts in Schangtienrand bewteen native populations and Häverist colonisers would continue. In an unlikely alliance with the native Kakuri people of Carlsö, Fisks and the Kakuri started coordinating terrorist attacks and local uprisings to a level where the island of Shuuen was liberated from its colonisers completely in 76XX.
At the same time, Vittmark had to outsource military defence of the northern Fisks' islands to Kamura. Due to the Wolgos Scourge, Vittmark had lost its quick airship connection to these islands, making it impossible to defend them. The alliance with Kamura was aimed at preventing The Bind from occupying the islands and taking over the trading and manugacturing assets here. As a part of the agreement between Vittmark and Kamura, Fisks got access to Kamuran markets and ports. Kamuran capital became leading in many of Fisks' subsidiaries, laying the foundation of the current day holding.
Fisks started investing heavily in the strategic port of Berewan, replacing outdated manufacturing facilities on the northern islands with modern production lines closer to its main seat of operation. Fisks also ordered an entirely new fleet in Kamura, passing on its worn-out and outdated fleet on lease contracts to assist with moving the Wolgos population from northern Altaia to Kupeya. However, Fisks multiple operations and subsidiaries became more and more scattered with unclear company directives and ownership. After the bankruptcy of M.A. Fisks and Fisks Lego, the governments of Kamura and Sokoku stepped in to restructure Fisks Handelshus from an extended family company
Company structure and ownership
The umbrella holding Fisks Han is owned by separate registered stock packages. These packages have a fixed share in the main holding, with the Kamuran package Siwa standing for 45.73% of the voting shares, the Sokokan package Carls for 41.42% and the Vittmarker package Hinnorum for 12.85%. All packages have both common stock and non-voting stock. The latter can be traded freely at stock exchanges, while some common stocks of the Siwa package can be traded freely at the stock exchange in Raeko, Kamura and all of the common stock within the Hinnorum package at the stock exchange in Östervallen, Vittmark. The holding charter declares that the states of Kamura and Sokoku will own a minimum of 25.05% of the common stock.