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Amplio Filtration makes UK acquisition
Industry news
Filtration+Separation July/August 2010
Mann+Hummel inaugurates new China HQ Automotive filter manufacturer Mann+Hummel has officially opened its 60 000 sq m new China headquarters in Jiading after a €40 million investment. The new Jiading headquarters houses a 38 000 sq m manufacturing facility, a fully resourced R&D centre and a dedicated aftermarket warehouse. Completed on schedule earlier this year, the new plant will manufacture a range of products including air filter systems, air filter elements, oil and fuel filters, cabin air filters, intake manifold systems, crankcase ventilation systems and coolant reservoirs. The facility will mainly serve the growing Chinese market but a small percentage of output will be exported to other Mann+Hummel companies overseas.
“This Jiading facility underscores the importance Mann+Hummel places on China, as well as in the region,” said Patrick Cudmore, group VP & CEO Mann+Hummel Asia-Pacific. “The Jiading facility takes Mann+Hummel closer to our goal of being one of the top automotive suppliers in China as we now have capabilities and facilities close to customers to meet their requirements. This integrated multi-functional state-of-the-art facility clearly puts Mann+Hummel in a strong position to meet the needs of our customers in the future.” Mann+Hummel entered the Chinese market in 1996 and now has four companies in mainland China. www.mann-hummel.com
Culligan divests Culligan Store Solutions to Primo Water Culligan International Co is selling its vended water business owned and operated by Culligan Store Solutions LLC (CSS), to Primo Water Corp, for US$105 million. Primo specialises in retail water exchange and retail sales of water dispensers. CSS provides self-serve retail vending of filtered drinking water, empty refillable water bottles, and store-use filtered drinking water services throughout the US and Canada at approximately 4500 retail locations. CSS customers
primarily include large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Safeway, Meijer, Sobeys, Hy-Vee, Kroger and Target. “The sale allows Culligan to sharpen our focus on expanding our water treatment and filtration offerings through our worldwide dealer channel and to enhance our global presence in the industrial water treatment business,” said Mark Seals, CEO of Culligan. www.culligan.com www.primowater.com
Clarcor appoints new president and chief operating officer Clarcor Inc has named Christopher Conway as the filtration company’s new president and chief operating officer. Conway will report directly to Norm Johnson, who remains Clarcor chairman and CEO. “Chris is uniquely qualified for this new position, with nearly 25 years of filtration experience,” said Johnson. “He brings a strong technical background, a knowledge and understanding
of our Baldwin engine/mobile business, and the experience of having led the integration and growth of our global PECOFacet division for the past two and a half years.” Conway, 55, joined Clarcor in 2006 as vice president of Manufacturing of Baldwin Filters. Before joining Clarcor, Conway worked for Pentair Inc and Donaldson Co Inc. www.clarcor.com
Amplio Filtration makes UK acquisition The Amplio Group has bought a majority stake in UK water purification, filtration and separation company Puresep Holdings. This acquisition is the first geographic expansion for Amplio Filtration which last year acquired Nasdaq-listed Basin Water Inc out of Chapter 11 and then formed Envirogen Technologies Inc. Established in 2002, Puresep Holdings owns Puresep Water Technologies Ltd and Puresep Filtration Technologies Ltd and has more than 300 clients, 15 employees and revenues of £3.7 million. Andrea Davi, head of Amplio Filtration, said: “We are
delighted to have made this excellent acquisition for Amplio Group alongside Puresep’s management. The Puresep acquisition combines innovative technologies, an experienced team, a solid and broad customer mix, secure income and a robust platform for growth. We look forward to strengthening and consolidating Puresep’s position in what is one of the most fragmented water markets in the world at a time when demand in the UK is surging as companies have to adhere to ever more strict environmental, economic and regulatory targets.” www.ampliopartners.com www.envirogen.com www.puresep.com
Siemens signs exclusive licensing agreement for EcoRight membrane bioreactor Siemens Water Technologies Corp and Saudi Aramco’s Aramco Overseas Co BV have entered an exclusive patent and technology licence agreement for the commercialisation of the EcoRight membrane bioreactor (MBR), a new wastewater treatment and water reuse system. Under the agreement, Siemens has the right to market and sell the system, which integrates membrane bioreactor technology with additional purification processes to treat highly organic wastewaters, ensuring the cost-effective reuse of difficult-to-treat wastewater. “This technology development and commercialisation project is truly a team effort. Saudi Aramco came to Siemens with the creative concept, and Siemens is applying its technical know-how to help turn an idea into a commercial reality,” said Chuck Gordon, CEO of Siemens Water Technologies. “Saudi Aramco’s long experience in operating a wide range of wastewater
treatment systems provided valuable knowledge and insight, which helped to formulate the innovative ideas leading to the development of the EcoRight MBR. This innovation, combined with Siemens’ capabilities as a world-class developer of wastewater treatment technologies culminated in the development of the EcoRight MBR. We believe this valuable new technology will enable industrial facilities to realise water conservation through expanding the horizons of industrial wastewater reuse,” said Isam Bayat vice president, Saudi Aramco Engineering Service. The EcoRight MBR system is currently under final technical evaluation and is expected to be commercially available in early 2011. Pilot testing will begin in the next few months. Multiple patents are pending for the technology used in the system. www.saudiaramco.com www.water.siemens.com
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Filtration+Separation July/August 2010
Mann+Hummel inaugurates new China HQ Automotive filter manufacturer Mann+Hummel has officially opened its 60 000 sq m new China headquarters in Jiading after a €40 million investment. The new Jiading headquarters houses a 38 000 sq m manufacturing facility, a fully resourced R&D centre and a dedicated aftermarket warehouse. Completed on schedule earlier this year, the new plant will manufacture a range of products including air filter systems, air filter elements, oil and fuel filters, cabin air filters, intake manifold systems, crankcase ventilation systems and coolant reservoirs. The facility will mainly serve the growing Chinese market but a small percentage of output will be exported to other Mann+Hummel companies overseas.
“This Jiading facility underscores the importance Mann+Hummel places on China, as well as in the region,” said Patrick Cudmore, group VP & CEO Mann+Hummel Asia-Pacific. “The Jiading facility takes Mann+Hummel closer to our goal of being one of the top automotive suppliers in China as we now have capabilities and facilities close to customers to meet their requirements. This integrated multi-functional state-of-the-art facility clearly puts Mann+Hummel in a strong position to meet the needs of our customers in the future.” Mann+Hummel entered the Chinese market in 1996 and now has four companies in mainland China. www.mann-hummel.com
Culligan divests Culligan Store Solutions to Primo Water Culligan International Co is selling its vended water business owned and operated by Culligan Store Solutions LLC (CSS), to Primo Water Corp, for US$105 million. Primo specialises in retail water exchange and retail sales of water dispensers. CSS provides self-serve retail vending of filtered drinking water, empty refillable water bottles, and store-use filtered drinking water services throughout the US and Canada at approximately 4500 retail locations. CSS customers
primarily include large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Safeway, Meijer, Sobeys, Hy-Vee, Kroger and Target. “The sale allows Culligan to sharpen our focus on expanding our water treatment and filtration offerings through our worldwide dealer channel and to enhance our global presence in the industrial water treatment business,” said Mark Seals, CEO of Culligan. www.culligan.com www.primowater.com
Clarcor appoints new president and chief operating officer Clarcor Inc has named Christopher Conway as the filtration company’s new president and chief operating officer. Conway will report directly to Norm Johnson, who remains Clarcor chairman and CEO. “Chris is uniquely qualified for this new position, with nearly 25 years of filtration experience,” said Johnson. “He brings a strong technical background, a knowledge and understanding
of our Baldwin engine/mobile business, and the experience of having led the integration and growth of our global PECOFacet division for the past two and a half years.” Conway, 55, joined Clarcor in 2006 as vice president of Manufacturing of Baldwin Filters. Before joining Clarcor, Conway worked for Pentair Inc and Donaldson Co Inc. www.clarcor.com
Amplio Filtration makes UK acquisition The Amplio Group has bought a majority stake in UK water purification, filtration and separation company Puresep Holdings. This acquisition is the first geographic expansion for Amplio Filtration which last year acquired Nasdaq-listed Basin Water Inc out of Chapter 11 and then formed Envirogen Technologies Inc. Established in 2002, Puresep Holdings owns Puresep Water Technologies Ltd and Puresep Filtration Technologies Ltd and has more than 300 clients, 15 employees and revenues of £3.7 million. Andrea Davi, head of Amplio Filtration, said: “We are
delighted to have made this excellent acquisition for Amplio Group alongside Puresep’s management. The Puresep acquisition combines innovative technologies, an experienced team, a solid and broad customer mix, secure income and a robust platform for growth. We look forward to strengthening and consolidating Puresep’s position in what is one of the most fragmented water markets in the world at a time when demand in the UK is surging as companies have to adhere to ever more strict environmental, economic and regulatory targets.” www.ampliopartners.com www.envirogen.com www.puresep.com
Siemens signs exclusive licensing agreement for EcoRight membrane bioreactor Siemens Water Technologies Corp and Saudi Aramco’s Aramco Overseas Co BV have entered an exclusive patent and technology licence agreement for the commercialisation of the EcoRight membrane bioreactor (MBR), a new wastewater treatment and water reuse system. Under the agreement, Siemens has the right to market and sell the system, which integrates membrane bioreactor technology with additional purification processes to treat highly organic wastewaters, ensuring the cost-effective reuse of difficult-to-treat wastewater. “This technology development and commercialisation project is truly a team effort. Saudi Aramco came to Siemens with the creative concept, and Siemens is applying its technical know-how to help turn an idea into a commercial reality,” said Chuck Gordon, CEO of Siemens Water Technologies. “Saudi Aramco’s long experience in operating a wide range of wastewater
treatment systems provided valuable knowledge and insight, which helped to formulate the innovative ideas leading to the development of the EcoRight MBR. This innovation, combined with Siemens’ capabilities as a world-class developer of wastewater treatment technologies culminated in the development of the EcoRight MBR. We believe this valuable new technology will enable industrial facilities to realise water conservation through expanding the horizons of industrial wastewater reuse,” said Isam Bayat vice president, Saudi Aramco Engineering Service. The EcoRight MBR system is currently under final technical evaluation and is expected to be commercially available in early 2011. Pilot testing will begin in the next few months. Multiple patents are pending for the technology used in the system. www.saudiaramco.com www.water.siemens.com
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