Bosch Rexroth Plans Acquisition of Hägglunds Drives AB

In 2007, Hägglunds Drives employed around 900 people and achieved sales of approximately EUR 200 million. Hägglunds Drives is a leading international supplier of complete hydraulic drive systems, separate drive motors and services. The Group develops, manufactures, markets and services complete drive system solutions for applications requiring high torque and variable speeds. 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. In the renewable energies sector, Hägglunds Drives products are used to drive machines for producing ethanol, and feature in the first prototypes for generating tidal energy.

The acquisition of Hägglunds Drives expands our industrial hydraulics portfolio and by this we gain new potential in growing markets, such as renewable energies, and mining and materials handling, explains Dr. Albert Hieronimus, Chairman of the Executive Board of Bosch Rexroth AG. 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 also the company's largest production site. Other production sites are located in San Antonio, Texas and Columbus, Ohio in the USA. The hydraulics specialist has a global sales network and offices in over 20 countries, in addition to around 50 sales and service offices.