Atlas Copco to split group, company veteran Rahmstrom named new CEO – by Johannes Hellstrom (Reuters U.S. – January 16, 2017)

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STOCKHOLM – Sweden’s Atlas Copco (ATCOa.ST) said it would split into two listed companies in 2018, forming an industrial business and a separate mining and civil engineering firm whose equity would be distributed to the same shareholders.

Atlas Copco also appointed Mats Rahmstrom, currently head of its Industrial Technique business, as chief executive from April. Rahmstrom replaces Ronnie Leten, who turned 60 last year, and is stepping down after eight years.

Atlas Copco will concentrate on industrial customers, while the new company, with the working name NewCo, will focus on mining and civil engineering. Rahmstrom, who has been with the company for almost 30 years, will stay with the larger and more profitable industrial business when the split takes place.

The industrial company, which will continue to be known as Atlas Copco, has annual sales of 74 billion Swedish crowns ($8.3 billion) and an operating margin of about 20 percent.

The divisions which will form the new mining and civil engineering company have annual sales of around 28 billion crowns with an operating margin of about 16 percent. They have been hit by the fall in commodity prices over the last two years.

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