Sweden’s Dacke takes control at mechanical specialist, BTL-UK
9 July 2025 
The Swedish industrial group Dacke Industri has acquired 80% of the shares in UK-based BTL-UK, which manufactures and distributes ball and roller bearings, mechanical power transmission components, and motion transfer linkages. BTL’s management will continue to hold the remaining 20%. Other financial details have not been revealed.
BTL-UK will join Dacke’s Fluid Power Technology Division.
The acquisition marks a strategic expansion for Dacke, strengthening its presence across Europe. It supports the Helsingborg-based company’s vision for growth in partnership with companies that specialise in their own products, customised components and systems.
BTL-UK is headquartered in Ashford Kent, with additional facilities in Burgess Hill. It has around 64 employees and an annual turnover of some £11m. It sells both directly to OEMs and through MRO and replacement parts distributors across the Europe and worldwide.
BTL began life as a Medway Bearings & Power Transmission, a distribution business founded by Ray Mifsud in 1991. In 2001, it purchased a 28,000ft2 site in Ashford that it still occupies, along with further premises that it bought in 2007 and 2012, and a new 41,000ft2 head office and warehouse that opened in 2022. The company now occupies a total area of 100,000ft2 (9,200m2).
In 2014, BTL was granted a global licence by Sumitomo Rubber Group to use the Dunlop brand for bearings, power transmission and linkages. It changed its name to Dunlop BTL, which it kept until 2020 when it adopted the BTL-UK name to reflect its widening portfolio of products and services.
In 2021 BTL-UK acquired BH Precision Engineering, based in West Sussex, and changed its name to BTL Precision-UK. This business specialises in bespoke systems for individual customers.
BTL-UK also offers products under its own brands, including Medway (drive belts), Megachain (timing belts), TC Oil-Seals and MSK Medical (a PPE supplier that BTL launched during the Covid pandemic in 2020).
“With European and global markets changing rapidly, BTL-UK had to find the right partner to take the company to new heights,” says its CEO and co-owner, Ray Mifsud. “We certainly found the ideal company in the Dacke Industri, who share our ambitions for long-term growth whilst at the same time preserving the company’s heritage and legacy.”
“We are pleased to welcome BTL-UK to our group as we continue to grow our presence in Europe” adds Mikael Lundgren, president of Dacke Industri’s Fluid Power Technology business, and now chairman of BTL-UK. “The company’s strong reputation for quality products and reliable aftersales support aligns well with our focus on meeting the needs of OEM customers.
“With their expertise and established distributor network, we look forward to working together to strengthen further our offering and support for customers across the region.”
Dacke Industri traces is history back to 1957 when it was founded as a manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders. Since then it has acquired a number of business and had several owners, and claims to be the biggest hydraulics specialist in the Nordic region. It invests in innovative technology companies in selected niches with potential for development. It operates a decentralised model in which its subsidiaries have a high degree of autonomy and are run independently.
Today, Dacke Industri has four divisions and 28 subsidiaries, with about 1,700 employees worldwide, and net sales of SEK 4.7bn (£363m). It is active in areas including hydraulics, pneumatics, fire suppression, electric motors, grinding machinery, train doors, control systems, and measuring systems and sensors. One of its subsidiaries, Swedrive, manufactures wormgears, jacks and electric cylinders.
Dacke Industri: LinkedIn
