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Larox considers share issue
Filtration Industry Analyst
NEWS
FB LEOPOLD SOLD TO PNC EQUITY PARTNERS RWE Thames Water has divested The FB Leopold Company Inc to Leopold’s executive management team and the Pittsburgh-based private equity group, PNC Equity Partners. Headquartered in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, Leopold has been supplying filtration and clarification systems for the municipal water and wastewater treatment industry since 1924. Leopold also has a sales office in the UK and an anthracite processing facility in Watsontown, Pennsylvania. RWE Thames Water, which has owned Leopold since 1992, said that the sale reflects a shift in its core business strategy to focus on the delivery of water and wastewater services. “Leopold has been a solid performer for years and we expect the company to continue to perform well for the new owners,” said Michael Ulizio, Leopold president and chief executive officer. “We are pleased to add Leopold to our portfolio,” said Jack Glover, a partner with PNC Equity Partners, which has more than US$1 billion of capital under management. “We believe this acquisition is consistent with our investment strategy, just as selling the company is consistent with the strategy of American Water. It is a win for both companies.”
NAME CHANGE FOR ROPUR AG Ropur AG, the exclusive distributor of Toray membrane products for Europe, the Middle East and Africa has changed its name to Toray Membrane Europe AG.
16
April 2004
In March 2003, Japan’s Toray Industries Inc acquired a majority stake in Switzerlandheadquartered Ropur by raising its share in the company from 29% to 60%. Toray now holds 60% of Toray Membrane Europe’s SFr1.25 million share capital, with local management holding 30%, and Japan’s Mitsui Bussan Plant & Project Corp holding the remaining 10%. The new managing director of Toray Membrane Europe is Yoshio Ozaki, who succeeds Klaus Kallenberg, who has taken on the role of executive vice president. Toray Membrane Europe operates local branch and sales offices in Barcelona and Canary Islands, Spain; Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE); and Amman, Jordan. Stocking points are located in Germany and in the UAE. Toray Membrane Europe employees communicate in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic and Japanese.
IONICS CHANGES OPERATING STRUCTURE Ionics has restructured its organization into three business groups - Water Systems, Instruments and Consumer. The Water Systems group will be further classified into equipment sales and operations. Equipment sales will reflect all of the company’s capital equipment and related sales, including spare parts. The operations group will include all of Ionics’ recurring revenue activities including regeneration, operating plants, disinfection chemicals and other related products. Ionics’ Consumer group will continue to include its existing activities. The Instruments group will also continue its existing activities but will now be credited with all instrument sales made by the company.
LAROX CONSIDERS SHARE ISSUE Larox Corp is investigating a share issue later this spring. The aim of the share issue is to strengthen the Finnish group’s balance sheet, to increase the number of shareholders, to make the company better known and to fulfill the terms and conditions of the main list of the Helsinki Exchange. Larox intends to use the revenues to refinance the purchase prices of the filter businesses acquired from Outokumpu late last year (see FIA, January 2004).
H2O INNOVATION COMPLETES C$3.0MN PRIVATE PLACEMENT Canada’s H2O Innovation (2000) Inc has received C$3.02 million in a private placement of 20 133 333 units at C$0.15. Each unit is comprised of a common share and a warrant, with each warrant granting the holder the right to subscribe one common share of H2O Innovation at a price of C$0.18 for a two-year period. “H2O Innovation will benefit from sufficient working capital to support the increase of its sales and, in particular, to realize by 30 June 2004, the C$2.2 million in backlog contracts,” said Guy Goulet, president and chief executive officer. “Our shareholders will benefit from a company which is financially strong and which is more active than ever in the water treatment sector,” added Goulet. Because of the new conditions of this financing, additional funds in the form of convertible debentures for C$600 000 are no longer necessary.
Editorial Office Elsevier Advanced Technology PO Box 150 Kidlington Oxford OX5 1AS United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1865 843695 Fax: +44 (0)1865 843971 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.filtsep.com Editor Roisin Reidy Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Rights & Permissions Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: [email protected]. You may also contact Rights & Permissions directly through Elsevier’s home page (http://www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Customer Support’, then ‘General Information’, then Permissions Query Form’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: (978) 7508400, fax: (978) 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: (+44) (0)20 7436 5931 ; fax: (+44) (0)20 7631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Contact the publisher at the address indicated. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Rights & Permissions Department, at the mail, fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
02207 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Limited, UK.
NEWS
FB LEOPOLD SOLD TO PNC EQUITY PARTNERS RWE Thames Water has divested The FB Leopold Company Inc to Leopold’s executive management team and the Pittsburgh-based private equity group, PNC Equity Partners. Headquartered in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, Leopold has been supplying filtration and clarification systems for the municipal water and wastewater treatment industry since 1924. Leopold also has a sales office in the UK and an anthracite processing facility in Watsontown, Pennsylvania. RWE Thames Water, which has owned Leopold since 1992, said that the sale reflects a shift in its core business strategy to focus on the delivery of water and wastewater services. “Leopold has been a solid performer for years and we expect the company to continue to perform well for the new owners,” said Michael Ulizio, Leopold president and chief executive officer. “We are pleased to add Leopold to our portfolio,” said Jack Glover, a partner with PNC Equity Partners, which has more than US$1 billion of capital under management. “We believe this acquisition is consistent with our investment strategy, just as selling the company is consistent with the strategy of American Water. It is a win for both companies.”
NAME CHANGE FOR ROPUR AG Ropur AG, the exclusive distributor of Toray membrane products for Europe, the Middle East and Africa has changed its name to Toray Membrane Europe AG.
16
April 2004
In March 2003, Japan’s Toray Industries Inc acquired a majority stake in Switzerlandheadquartered Ropur by raising its share in the company from 29% to 60%. Toray now holds 60% of Toray Membrane Europe’s SFr1.25 million share capital, with local management holding 30%, and Japan’s Mitsui Bussan Plant & Project Corp holding the remaining 10%. The new managing director of Toray Membrane Europe is Yoshio Ozaki, who succeeds Klaus Kallenberg, who has taken on the role of executive vice president. Toray Membrane Europe operates local branch and sales offices in Barcelona and Canary Islands, Spain; Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE); and Amman, Jordan. Stocking points are located in Germany and in the UAE. Toray Membrane Europe employees communicate in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic and Japanese.
IONICS CHANGES OPERATING STRUCTURE Ionics has restructured its organization into three business groups - Water Systems, Instruments and Consumer. The Water Systems group will be further classified into equipment sales and operations. Equipment sales will reflect all of the company’s capital equipment and related sales, including spare parts. The operations group will include all of Ionics’ recurring revenue activities including regeneration, operating plants, disinfection chemicals and other related products. Ionics’ Consumer group will continue to include its existing activities. The Instruments group will also continue its existing activities but will now be credited with all instrument sales made by the company.
LAROX CONSIDERS SHARE ISSUE Larox Corp is investigating a share issue later this spring. The aim of the share issue is to strengthen the Finnish group’s balance sheet, to increase the number of shareholders, to make the company better known and to fulfill the terms and conditions of the main list of the Helsinki Exchange. Larox intends to use the revenues to refinance the purchase prices of the filter businesses acquired from Outokumpu late last year (see FIA, January 2004).
H2O INNOVATION COMPLETES C$3.0MN PRIVATE PLACEMENT Canada’s H2O Innovation (2000) Inc has received C$3.02 million in a private placement of 20 133 333 units at C$0.15. Each unit is comprised of a common share and a warrant, with each warrant granting the holder the right to subscribe one common share of H2O Innovation at a price of C$0.18 for a two-year period. “H2O Innovation will benefit from sufficient working capital to support the increase of its sales and, in particular, to realize by 30 June 2004, the C$2.2 million in backlog contracts,” said Guy Goulet, president and chief executive officer. “Our shareholders will benefit from a company which is financially strong and which is more active than ever in the water treatment sector,” added Goulet. Because of the new conditions of this financing, additional funds in the form of convertible debentures for C$600 000 are no longer necessary.
Editorial Office Elsevier Advanced Technology PO Box 150 Kidlington Oxford OX5 1AS United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1865 843695 Fax: +44 (0)1865 843971 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.filtsep.com Editor Roisin Reidy Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Rights & Permissions Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: [email protected]. You may also contact Rights & Permissions directly through Elsevier’s home page (http://www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Customer Support’, then ‘General Information’, then Permissions Query Form’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: (978) 7508400, fax: (978) 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: (+44) (0)20 7436 5931 ; fax: (+44) (0)20 7631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Contact the publisher at the address indicated. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Rights & Permissions Department, at the mail, fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
02207 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Limited, UK.