Swedish high-technology engineering and steelmaking group Sandvik has announced that it plans to sell its Mining Systems unit to focus more on its core operations, mining equipment and aftermarket offerings for both underground and surface mines, which Sandvik will continue to develop to ensure long-term value creation.
The Mining Systems unit is a separate product area within Sandvik Mining and a supplier of design and engineering of material handling systems for the mining industry. In 2014, the Mining Systems operations, with 1,300 employees, had annual sales of SEK 6.3 billion ($752.2 million) representing seven percent of Sandvik Group sales, while an operating loss was reported at a low single-digit level.
As from the third quarter of the current year and until closure of the divestment, the Mining Systems operations will be reported as discontinued operations in the Sandvik Group financial statements. The company will post a SEK 1 billion ($119.4 million) charge in the third quarter.