Atlas Copco has agreed to sell its motion control business, Atlas Copco Controls, to the Danaher Corporation of the US for an undisclosed sum. The business, which employs 235 people in Europe and the US, had sales of around £35.5m in 1998. It has a small UK sales and support operation, based in Huddersfield and employing five people.

ACC specialises in industrial automation systems, drives for electric vehicles, and customised drives. Its products include multi-axis control systems, servo drives, and PC-based automation systems.

Gunnar Palme, business area executive with Atlas Copco Industrial Technique, says that the motion control business did not have enough synergies with the parent company`s core business. "We believe that Danaher offers a better environment to encourage further growth in the company," he adds.

ACC will work closely with Danaher`s existing motion control operation, Pacific Scientific (PacSci), whose products include servo and stepper drives, AC synchronous motors and permanent magnet DC motors. The deal will boost Danaher`s presence in Europe. PacSci already produces motors at a plant in Ennis, Ireland.

"Pacific Scientific`s high-performance motors nicely complement our own products," says ACC general manager Mats Onner. The deal will also give ACC access to Danaher`s large North American distribution network.

ACC started life in 1968 as the Swedish firm GME Systems. Atlas Copco acquired GME in 1989 and changed its name four years later. In 1995, the Swiss multi-axis specialist Socapel joined ACC, and was followed in 1996 by the machine controls company, Elesta IA.