HELSINKI - Metso announced on Thursday 15 January 2015 it has agreed to sell its process automation business to Valmet in a deal valuing the division at 340 million euros.

The company said that the divestment is in line with Metso's new strategy announced in July 2014, under which Metso will focus on the product and services businesses for the mining, aggregates, and oil & gas industries. When announcing its new strategy, Metso also said its intention of studying alternatives for its process automation systems business.

Metso said that the PAS business is the market leader in process automation solutions for the pulp, paper and power industries, with an extensive range of offering covering automation and quality control systems, analyzers and measurements and related services. PAS has 1,600 employees in approximately 80 locations around the world. In 2013, PAS generated net sales of around EUR 300 million.

The transaction, which is estimated to be closed by 1 April 2015, is subject to approval by competition authorities. Metso expects to book a significant capital gain after the closing.

"We are very pleased to announce this transaction. It is a logical step and an important milestone in implementing our new strategy. We are happy that we could achieve this strategic milestone in a timely manner, thereby allowing Metso to fully focus on growing its core businesses and also minimizing the period of uncertainty for the PAS business and people," says Matti Kähkönen, President and CEO of Metso.

"Metso will continue developing intelligent solutions for its mining, aggregates and flow control customers. For our pulp, paper and power customers we will remain a trusted partner through our valve solutions," Kähkönen added.