Swedish engineering business Atlas Copco is to purchase the vacuum business of OC Oerlikon of Switzerland for CHF525m (€486m) in cash.
Leybold Vacuum, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, employs around 1,600 people and produces vacuum equipment, customised pumping systems and leak detectors.
The vacuum solutions are used to create clean, particle-free environments for applications such as automotive, metallurgy, coating of microchips, and the manufacturing of analytical instruments.
Leybold Vacuum reported revenues of €360m in 2014.
'Leybold will strengthen our technology platform for superior vacuum solutions,' said Nico Delvaux, President of Atlas Copco’s Compressor Technique business area. 'We welcome a very knowledgeable workforce with a long history.'
The companies said the acquisition should be completed in the first half of 2016.
The deal follows Atlas Copco’s purchase in 2014 of Edwards Group, which was its first major step into the vacuum solutions area.
The company said Leybold Vacuum will join Atlas Copco’s Vacuum Solutions division in the Compressor Technique business area.