Mining gear and compressor maker Atlas Copco will sell its road construction equipment business to French industrial and construction company Fayat Group, it said on Thursday, booking a loss of about 2-billion Swedish crowns ($225-million). Atlas announced plans a week ago to sell the business, known as Dynapac, saying it would take an impairment charge.
Stockholm-based Atlas Copco and local rival Sandvik are reshuffling business areas and shedding underperforming units. Earlier this week Atlas announced plans to split into two firms, and business daily Dagens Industri said Sandvik is looking at listing its speciality steel unit Material Technology.
Sandvik said on Thursday it had failed to close a planned deal to sell its loss-making Mining Systems unit, saying it would carry on seeking ways to exit the business with different interested parties. Atlas Copco bought Dynapac in 2007 from private equity firm Altor. The firm has struggled to reach targeted returns, hit first by the financial crisis, and then a sharp multi-year downturn for construction equipment in China. Its sales were 2.9-billion crowns last year.
