AB Hägglund & Söner was founded in 1899 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The company was divided in 1988, one part being Hägglunds Vehicle AB, the military vehicles business. In October 1997 the British company Alvis plc acquired Hägglunds to form Alvis Hagglunds AB. Alvis expanded its military vehicle business in 1998 with the purchase of GKN's armoured vehicle division in 1998 and Vickers Defence in 2002 to form Alvis Vickers. In September 2004 BAE Systems acquired Alvis Vickers and merged it with its RO Defence ordnance division to form BAE Systems Land Systems. Hägglunds was renamed Land Systems Hägglunds.