Volvo moves into road building

Volvo is buying Ingersoll Rand's road development division for US$1.3 billion. This acquisition will place Volvo in a leading position in the market for road construction machinery. Ingersoll Rand's paving machines number amongst the world's market leading brands and the compactors are amongst the market leaders in the US.

Ingersoll Rand recently re-entered the milling machine market with a new line of machines. Volvo is already a major player in the earthmoving equipment market and this move into the road machinery sector is entirely complimentary. The purchase comes at a time of intense competition and consolidation in the road equipment sector.