Buying drives

German drive and control company Bosch Rexroth plans to acquire all the shares in Swedish drive vendor Hägglunds Drives.

In 2007, Hägglunds Drives employed around 900 people and achieved sales of approximately €200 million (£159m). It is an international supplier of  hydraulic drive systems, separate drive motors and services.

The drive systems are used in a wide range of industries, such as mining and materials handling, marine and offshore, recycling, sugar, pulp and paper.

Bosch Rexroth already offers a broad range of hydraulics solutions for industrial and mobile applications. At present, however, it only supplies radial piston motors - the primary product manufactured by Hägglunds Drives - in performance classes for use in mobile applications, such as small construction machinery.

The headquarters of Hägglunds Drives in the Swedish city of Mellansel is the company's largest production site. Other production sites are located in San Antonio, Texas and Columbus, Ohio in the US. The hydraulics specialist also has a global sales network and offices in over 20 countries, in addition to around 50 sales and service offices.

The deal between the two drive vendors is still subject to regulatory approval.