Ingersoll Rand Sells Road Development Business to AB Volvo

February 27, 2007 • Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda, announced that it has agreed to sell its Road Development business unit, which includes telehandlers and Ingersoll Rand retail stores, to AB Volvo for cash proceeds of approximately $1.3 billion. The sale, which is subject to government regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is targeted to close in the second quarter of 2007. 

 

The Road Development business unit manufactures and sells construction-related material-handling equipment, asphalt paving equipment, compaction equipment, and milling machines. In 2006, the unit generated net revenues of approximately $850 million, which included inter-company revenues of approximately $150 million. The sale includes manufacturing facilities in Letterkenny and Shippensburg, Pa.; Hameln, Germany; Wuxi, China; and Bangalore, India, as well as 20 distribution and service facilities in the United States. The business includes approximately 2,000 people worldwide. 

 

Herbert L. Henkel, chairman, president and chief executive officer, noted that the Road Development business has been a strong contributor IR's success for several decades, but the “markets and products do not fit within our transformed portfolio of diversified industrial businesses.”

 

He further added: “The sale of the Road Development business reflects our strategy to transition away from capital-intense, heavy-machinery businesses and improves the company's efforts to consistently achieve aggressive financial objectives over the long term. To that end, we will use the proceeds to make acquisitions and fund innovation and new product development efforts that will generate strong revenue and earnings growth. In addition, we will continue to implement our previously authorized share repurchase program.”