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said Stephen Oswald, presi-dent of Hamilton Sundstrand’s Industrial group. “The acquisi-tion is also a great addition to our Milton Roy businesses allowing us to expand into new products and add to our pres-ence in France.”

JEUMONT SELLS ELECTRO

-MECHANICALACTIVITIES

Areva subsidiary Jeumont SA has divested its electro-mechanical activities (exclud-ing windturbines activity) to Altawest.

The nuclear entity of Jeumont remains part of Areva and will now be known as JSPM and will focus on its core business - solutions for pumps and mechanisms used in nuclear power plants.

WILO STARTS MOTOR

PRODUCTION IN CHINA

German pump manufactur-er Wilo has invested US$8 million in a new 10 000 m² production centre for elec-tro motors in Qinhuangdao, China.

When fully operational, Wilo plans to produce 1.5 mil-lion glanded motors per year, each with a power of up to 4 KW per year. “With the new building we are able to pro-duce in plant almost 100% of our motors for the Asian pump market. The attached construc-tion and development centre enables us to raise the bar con-cerning technical power and efficiency,” said Jean Plé, who is responsible for international production processes at Wilo.

At present there are 70 employees at Wilo Elec Ltd China. This is expected to increase to 250 over the next three years.

VERDERACQUIRES

AUTOCLUDEThe Verder Group has reached an agreement in principle to acquire 100% of the shares in Autoclude Ltd from the UK engineering company Samuel Hodge.

Autoclude designs and manufactures peristaltic pumps mainly for the OEM and the laboratory markets. The prod-uct range, which covers flow rates from 1 ml/min to 23 l/min, is used in a diverse range of industries including medical and beverage dispensing.

“With virtually no product overlap, Autoclude’s products represent an attractive comple-ment to the products in our Liquids division,” said Andries Verder, CEO of the privately-owned Dutch Verder Group. “We believe this acquisition will further expand our cus-tomer base throughout the Group. The combined busi-nesses will benefit from econ-omies of scale through a well established sales network and combined product develop-ment to accelerate growth and further strengthen our position in the peristaltic pump market.”

“We believe this is an out-standing transaction for our associates, customers and part-ners,” said Hamish Kinmond, director of Samuel Hodge. “Verder is at the forefront of peristaltic pump technology, making it the ideal partner for Autoclude. This combination is the best way to create excit-

ing future growth opportunities for Autoclude’s associates and partners, and enhanced prod-ucts for our customers.”

MILTON ROY EXPANDS IN

RUSSIADosing pump manufacturer Milton Roy Europe (former-ly Dosapro Milton Roy) and its sister company Milton Roy Americas, have opened a new sales office in Moscow.

A marketing manager is based at parent company’s United Technologies’ premises in the city. Milton Roy Europe has also signed a distributor agreement with an industrial pump and valve partner head-quartered in Moscow. This new distributor completes the exist-ing Milton Roy Europe’s net-work including an OEM inte-grator based in St Petersburg and an agent in Moscow.

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM TO ACQUIRE

BOC EDWARDSPrivate equity company CCMP Capital has reached an agreement with The Linde Group to acquire BOC Edwards.

The £460 million deal fol-lows last year’s acquisition of The BOC Group by Linde and the announcement that it intended to focus on its global gases operations (see Pump Industry Analyst, October 2006).

CCMP Capital Advisors and CCMP Capital Asia are acquiring BOC Edwards’ main vacuum and semi-con-ductor equipment business. The pharmaceutical division will remain a subsidiary of Linde.

IN BRIEF

• Hertz Equipment Rental Corp added 24 general rental locations in North America in 2006 as part of its planned expansion. Currently, HERC has 115 locations in the US and Canada operating in the general rental program. HERC’s general rental loca-tions offer a broad range of products, including lawn mowers, floor sanders and buffers, trenchers, paint sprayers, ladders, pumps and scaffolding, as well as construction and indus-trial equipment from man-ufacturers such as Case, Genie, Ingersoll-Rand, JLG, John Deere, Wacker and Stihl.

• Lowara expects to close 2006 with sales of just over �250 million, up from �223 million at the end of 2005, despite growing com-petition and raw material price increases. In the Italian market, the reorganisation of Lowara’s distribution network, and the introduc-tion of a toll-free number for assistance and infor-mation, have proved particularly effective for the company.

• Shakti Pumps India Ltd’snew manufacturing plant at the Special Economic Zone in Pithampur, India, has started commercial produc-tion. The plant is set to pro-duce 200 000 pumps annu-ally. With a total capacity of 255 000 pumps, Shakti Pumps plans to aggressively market the pumps interna-tionally as well as in the domestic market (see PumpIndustry Analyst, February 2006).

March 2007 Pump Industry Analyst

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