Swedish Atlas acquires third company in Turkey

Atlas Copco, one of Sweden’s biggest industrial firms, has purchased its Istanbulbased distributor, Orcan Pressurized Air Machines, its third acquisition in Turkey since 2012. The price of the deal was not disclosed.

“Orcan will be a positive contribution to boosting customer productivity,” Dico Delvaux, president of the compressor business at Atlas Copco, said in a statement on the company’s website.

Sales of $11 billion

Atlas Copco, the world’s largest producer of industrial vehicles and equipment, has annual sales of $11 billion. It employs 45,000 people and has offices in more than 90 countries and 76 manufacturing facilities in 20 countries, including Italy, China, India and Germany. Its shares (ATLKF) are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in New York

Atlas Copco acquired Ekomak in 2012. It then bought Istanbul-based Dost Compressor in 2013, which was established in 1987 by Fehmi Akdeniz and Halis Soztutar, who had worked in the main office of the Swedish company. Atlas Copco, which produced compressors in Turkey beginning in the 1970s, moved that production to Belgium in 1990.

Business and diplomacy

Founded in 1873 by Andre Oscar Wallenberg, Atlas Copco’s honorary president is Peter Wallenberg. The Wallenberg family enjoys a close relationship to the Koc and Suren families in Turkey. Koc Holding’s honorary president, Rahmi Koc led the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in 1995-1996 and was succeeded by Marcus Wallenberg. The Wallenberg family, who owns white-goods maker Electrolux, has partnerships or board memberships at telecom giant Ericsson and automotive brands Scania and AstraZeneca.

The Wallenberg family also played an important role in Swedish diplomacy. Gustaf Wallenberg (1863-1937) was the Swedish ambassador to Istanbul. His grandson Raoul Wallenberg was ambassador to Hungary. During World War II, he helped save tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis by giving them protective passports and sheltering them in embassy buildings.