Sandvik has officially changed the name of Austrian subsidiary Voest Alpine Materials Handling GmbH and Co. KG (VAMH), a fully owned subsidiary of Sandvik Mining and Construction. The company will now be known as Sandvik Mining and Construction Materials Handling. The former VAMH, headquarted in Leoben, produces open cast continuous mining equipment and mine and stockyard bulk handling systems. Tamrock acquired Voest-Alpine in 1996, with Sandvik acquiring full control of Tamrock in 1998. The other part of the former Voest-Alpine is Bergtechnik, based in Zeltweg, Austria, which changed its name officially in January 2007 and is focussed on underground equipment for coal and soft rock mining such as miner bolters and coal haulers. Sandvik said that the move was in accordance with its new business strategy and the associated course of re-branding within Sandvik Mining and Construction, with the ultimate aim of all employees and companies uniting under the single Sandvik brand with, “a higher recognition in the market”. The latest expansion by Sandvik is in the underground coal market with its buy-out of Hydramatic on 28 February 2007.
