Atlas Copco (Sweden)

Atlas Copco AB (Aktiebolag), more commonly known as Atlas Copco (Ltd.) is a Swedish multinational industrial company headquartered in Nacka. It derives its name from two separate companies, both founded in the Stockholm area at the end of the 19th century: AB (Aktiebolaget) Atlas established in 1873 and AB Diesels Motorer på Stora Sicklas (English: AB (Aktiebolaget) Diesels Motors in Sicklas) in 1898. In the 1880's AB Atlas acquired the Brynä Shipyard (Gävle Varv AB). AB Atlas serviced mainly the locomotive industry by producing steam engines, compressors, wagons, etc, but also guns as well. On November 1890 the company had to be reinvented due to bankruptcy and it was renamed Nya AB Atlas (New AB Atlas). In 1917, Atlas merged with Diesels Motorer, a manufacturer of marine engines and stationary diesel engines. The new company was named Atlas Diesel. Atlas Diesel finally terminated its less profitable diesel manufacturing in 1948, when Nydqvist & Holm (NOHAB) placed a bid to take over operations. The name Atlas Diesel was no longer relevant, and a new name was sought that would both reflect the company's type of operations and provide uniformity for the foreign subsidiaries. Atlas Copco was chosen, derived from the name of a Belgian subsidiary– Compagnie Pneumatique Commerciale. The decision was made in the autumn of 1955 (most likely after an investors Assembly) to rename the company and work with the name change was begun in 1956. Hence, the new name, Atlas Copco AB was established. During the 1940-1957 period, a number of acquisitions were made in the Swedish market. These included Björneborgs Järnverk and Eccoverken i Skara in 1942, Injector in 1947 and AB Avos i Örebro in 1951. The first strategically important international acquisition was of the Belgian compressor company Arpic Engineering in 1956. An additional important Swedish acquisition was made in 1960 when Atlas Copco purchased Craelius. These were followed in the 1970's by acquiring controlling interest in Swedish Berema and thecompany MauguiËre. In the 1980's it acquired the (U.S.) company Worthington Compressors, Chicago Pneumatic Tools was acquired in 1987, followed by French company Ets. Georges Renault in 1988. In 1990 British company Desoutter Brothers Plc was acquired as well as the German AEG Elektrowerkzeuge in 1992 and the (U.S.) Milwaukee Electric Tool in 1995. In 2001 it purchased two additional US companies, Prime Service Corporation and North American Rental Service Corporation. In 2004 Ingersoll-Rand Drilling was acquired, followed in 2007 by the purchasing of Swedish Dynapac.

The current list of subsidiaries and/or major company investments/business units/brands (50+) are here:
https://www.atlascopcogroup.com/en/about-us/brands and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Copco#Brands

Sources:

Esteban Rivera, 29 July 2020

Atlas Copco (Sweden)

Atlas Copco AB

Description

Background (of Company)