Sandvik acquires Austrian tungsten producer

Sandvik has reached an agreement to acquire Wolfram Bergbau- und Hütten-GmbH Nfg. KG (WBH), an Austrian producer and supplier of tungsten products. The acquisition is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2009, after approval by relevant anti-trust authorities.

WBH operates a refining plant for producing tungsten carbide, including a chemical plant for recycling tungsten material, in St. Martin, Austria, where the headquarter is located. WBH also operates a mine and ore dressing plant in Mittersill, Austria. WBH is active within the tungsten industry since 1975 and offers tungsten carbide and tungsten metal powders. Sandvik is part of WBH’s global customer base since many years. WBH’s highly qualified R&D-resources have created an outstanding product quality and offering of unique tungsten carbide grades. Tungsten carbide is the primary raw material of cemented carbide, and therefore the acquisition of WBH is of long-term strategic importance for Sandvik.

In 2008, WBH had sales of approximately SEK 1,800 M and 300 employees. WBH will be a separate product area in the business area Sandvik Tooling. WBH will continue to operate independently and develop its business and customer relationships. Burghard Zeiler will continue as managing director.

“This acquisition complements and strengthens our business. WBH will bring know-how, technology and capacity for world class production and recycling of tungsten carbide. It provides us with resources to manage the entire production process, from ore to finished cemented carbide powder. In this way we will be able to further strengthen our raw material supply and develop our business and customer offering,” says Anders Thelin, President of Sandvik Tooling.


Sandviken, 17 February 2009

Sandvik Aktiebolag (publ)