In February, Finland`s Metso Corporation announced that it was selling its Valmet Hydraulics motors business to Denison International for £10.5m. But the deal has collapsed after the two parties failed to reach agreement on the terms for the sale in the allotted time.

Metso has decided therefore to continue running the business as part of its gears and components group, which forms part of its machinery operation. Valmet Hydraulics, which employs 112 people producing hydraulic motors, had sales last year of £10.2m. Metso, formed last year by the merger of Valmet and the Finnish company Rauma, employs around 23,000 people and had sales in 1999 of over £2bn.

Meanwhile, another hydraulics deal - the merger of Sauer with Danfoss Fluid Power to form Sauer-Danfoss - has been completed, creating what is claimed to be the world`s largest mobile hydraulics company. Sauer shareholders approved the deal at a special meeting in early May. The merged company employs around 6,200 people and has global sales of some $840m.