In 1872 the Meer brothers founded the Maschinenfabrik und Eisengießerei Meer in Mönchengladbach, whose focus was on the production of compressors, water pumps and steam engines. With the entry of Dr. Carl Gruber, the production of seamless tube mills started. Following the takeover by Mannesmann in 1926, the company was renamed Maschinenfabrik Meer. It further developed the tube rolling technology and forced the construction of Assel mills. In the years that followed, Meer became the main supplier to the tube and pipe industry. This resulted in major orders, such as 1959 in Rourkela, India.

In 1972 Mannesmann acquired shares in Demag and merged the Tube Technology, Foundry and Powder Metallurgy divisions of Meer and the Hydraulics and Tube Technology divisions of Demag in one company. In 1999, the Mannesmann Demag Metallurgy business area merged with SMS Schloemann-Siemag. The strengths of both companies have thus been combined and the market position of the new company consolidated. This division was divided into the business areas SMS Demag and SMS Meer. In 2015, these two parts came together to form SMS group.