Metso acquire Svedala
ON 7 September, one year and three months after launching their recommended £695 million cash offer, Metso Corp. finally received approval from the US Federal Trade Commission for their takeover of Svedala Industri AB. The merger of the two companies, which began immediately, will make Metso Minerals the world leaders in rock and mineral processing technology with net sales of approximately £1.3 billion.
Metso plan to integrate all head office functions within six months, with Svedala’s current head offices in Sweden and the US either discontinued or combined with Metso and Metso Minerals head office functions. Distribution organizations will be integrated within 12 months, with over 200 sales locations being reduced to 130–140 units, and a number of factories will also be closed or sold as part of the integration process. Restructuring costs are estimated at £38–44 million, however Metso expect synergies of around £44 million in the first 12 months after completion.
The enlarged Metso Minerals will offer a full aggregate processing line comprising more than 300 products ranging from drilling, crushing and screening equipment, through wear products and conveying equipment to compaction equipment and pavers. The well known Svedala and Nordberg brands will continue as trademarks of Metso Minerals.
The division will be headed by Olli Vaartimo, who has been president of Metso Minerals (and formerly Nordberg) since 1993.
In order to gain approval for the takeover from the EU and US competition authorities, both Metso and Svedala were required to divest a number of their manufacturing interests. As planned, Sandvik have acquired the major part of Svedala’s crushing and screening business from Metso and have formed a new division — Sandvik Rock Processing — to serve the mining, quarrying and mineral processing industries.
Sandvik Rock Processing’s product lines include the Hydrocone and Eurocone cone crushers, the Jawmaster range, Nordberg-designed gyratories, Svedala’s latest mobile crushing and screening machines and a wide range of feeders and screens.
In the UK, the new division will be headed by Adam Orr, former technical manager at Svedala Ltd, and will operate from new offices in Coventry, as well as service centres in Scotland and Ireland.
