All 128 people currently employed by the foundry will continue with their current employment contracts. Completion of the divestment is expected to occur on 1 March, 2015. The value of the transaction will not be disclosed.
“Operations at the Tampere foundry are of good quality, and it fits well to our strategy to serve both TEVO's and Lokomo's customers with a wider product offering for example in the offshore industry. TEVO has earlier this year started a development project related to arctic propellers together with Aker Arctic and VTT. The steel foundry know-how supports this project. The foundry operations together with our propeller manufacturing unit in Turenki, Finland make TEVO an internationally recognised player in the industry,” says TEVO's managing director Teuvo Joensuu.
“I am happy that the foundry operations will continue in Tampere. Divestment offers a great starting point for developing the foundry operations as part of TEVO", says Juha Silvennoinen, president, Services Business Area, Metso.
In addition to the Tampere foundry, Metso has currently five foundries and an extensive network of external casting suppliers serving the mining and aggregates industries. Its foundries are located in Ahmedabad, India; Isithebe, South Africa; Prerov, Czech Republic; Quzhou, China, and Sorocaba, Brazil.
TEVO is a family-owned business originally from Raahe in western Finland, and has been in business for over 40 years. It is an internationally operating heavy-duty machine engineering workshop, whose business has expanded from steel and paper industries to offshore and shipbuilding industries. TEVO specialises in complex steel structures and specialty welding. Own product offering consists of bronze propellers for sea-going vessels and specialty rolls for paper industry as examples. After the completion of the acquisition, TEVO will employ approximately 260 professionals at its Raahe, Turenki ja Tampere sites in Finland.
Over 50% of TEVO's annual net sales of about €50 million come from exports.
