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Clarcor relocates corporate HQ
WARBURG PINCUS TO ACQUIRE POLYPORE Private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC is set to acquire Polypore Inc from shareholders led by The InterTech Group Inc and GTCR Golder Rauner LLC. Polypore manufactures specialized microporous filtration products used in the power storage, healthcare, electronics, transportation and specialty technology industries worldwide. Main product lines include electrolytic separation membranes used in lithium and industrial batteries, filtration membranes used in kidney dialysis, blood oxygenation, and plasmapheresis medical devices and other filtration products used in semiconductor, microelectronics, food and beverage and water purification applications. Polypore manufactures these products in ten facilities located throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Frank Nasisi will become CEO of Polypore when the deal closes in the second quarter of 2004.
CLARCOR RELOCATES CORPORATE HQ Clarcor Inc is moving its corporate headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee from Rockford, Illinois. The growth of Clarcor from a company with sales of less than US$175 million in 1983 to nearly US$750 million in 2003 led management to evaluate, over the last several years, where the best location for their headquarters should be. Clarcor does not plan to move its remaining facilities in Rockford which currently employ over 400 people in three manufacturing plants. Nashville was one of a number of cities Clarcor considered in addition to remaining
Filtration Industry Analyst
in Rockford. Clarcor says that Nashville offers a central US location, close access to a large, international airport and is centrally located to the company’s main operating facilities in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. The move is expected to take place over the next six to 12 months.
GRAVER BUYS DON ANTHONY DESIGNS Graver Technologies of Glasgow, Delaware has completed the purchase of Don Anthony Designs located in Houston, Texas. Don Anthony Designs adds a broad range of dust collector and other industrial filter cartridge capabilities to Graver Technologies’ existing filter product line. “Don Anthony also brings a number of OEM products and customers that have already folded in seamlessly with our existing OEM business,” said Leonard Orsini, VP Sales & Marketing for Graver’s Industrial Filtration business unit. Graver Technologies has relocated the production equipment, engineering and sales functions to its ISO 9001 registered facility in Honeoye Falls, New York.
GL&V CREATES WATER TREATMENT UNIT Groupe Laperrière & Verreault Inc (GL&V) has set up Eimco Water Technologies, a separate entity dedicated to the development and management of the company’s assets in the municipal and industrial water sector. Eimco Water Technologies’ mission is to accelerate GL&V’s growth in the water treatment market by acquiring
established businesses and entities equipped with cuttingedge technologies, as well as by taking advantage of GL&V’s international network to develop the water treatment market in certain foreign countries. Since the acquisition of Eimco in November 2002, water treatment has become one of GL&V’s most promising markets. For the current fiscal year ending 31 March 2004, GL&V expects to achieve revenues of US$90 million in the water treatment market.
BAKER HUGHES SELLS BIRD MACHINE Baker Hughes Inc has completed the sale of Bird Machine, the remaining operating division of its Process segment, to Austria’s Andritz. The sale excludes certain accounts receivable, inventories and other assets that are being retained by the company. In October 2003, Baker Hughes signed a definitive agreement for the sale of Bird (see FIA, November 2003).
COPA PURCHASES AQUATOR ASSETS Copa Ltd has completed the purchase of the assets of the Aquator Group Ltd from the administrators of Aquator Group Ltd and Aquator Services Ltd, both based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK. Aquator was a licencee of the Kubota membrane bioreactor system. In a separate deal with Japan’s Kubota Corp, Copa has also acquired full rights to the Kubota membrane bioreactor process and will be able to complete and honour the commitments previously given by Aquator to existing and new customers in the UK and Ireland.
Financial Calendar
25 February 2004 BBA Group Year-end Results 2003 March 2004 Weir Preliminary 2003 Results Metso 2003 Annual Report Published Whatman Preliminary Annual Results Annual Report Published Larox Annual Shareholders Meeting 5 March 2004 Gamma Holding Annual Results 12 March 2004 Zenon Environmental Q4 Results 30 March 2004 Sartorius Annual Press Conference April 2004 Weir Circulation of Annual Report Alfa Laval Annual Report Whatman Annual General Meeting 2 April 2004 Gamma Holding Publication of Annual Report 6 April 2004 Metso Annual General Meeting 22 April 2004 Gamma Holding Annual General Meeting 27 April 2004 Alfa Laval First Quarter Report Annual Shareholders Meeting 28 April 2004 Metso Interim Review January–March 29 April 2004 Sartorius Q1 Report 2004 May 2004 Weir Annual General Meeting 3 May 2004 Ahlstrom Interim Report for Q1 7 May 2004 Ahlstrom Annual General Meeting 17 May 2004 Larox Interim Report
13
NEWS/CALENDAR
February 2004
CLARCOR RELOCATES CORPORATE HQ Clarcor Inc is moving its corporate headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee from Rockford, Illinois. The growth of Clarcor from a company with sales of less than US$175 million in 1983 to nearly US$750 million in 2003 led management to evaluate, over the last several years, where the best location for their headquarters should be. Clarcor does not plan to move its remaining facilities in Rockford which currently employ over 400 people in three manufacturing plants. Nashville was one of a number of cities Clarcor considered in addition to remaining
Filtration Industry Analyst
in Rockford. Clarcor says that Nashville offers a central US location, close access to a large, international airport and is centrally located to the company’s main operating facilities in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. The move is expected to take place over the next six to 12 months.
GRAVER BUYS DON ANTHONY DESIGNS Graver Technologies of Glasgow, Delaware has completed the purchase of Don Anthony Designs located in Houston, Texas. Don Anthony Designs adds a broad range of dust collector and other industrial filter cartridge capabilities to Graver Technologies’ existing filter product line. “Don Anthony also brings a number of OEM products and customers that have already folded in seamlessly with our existing OEM business,” said Leonard Orsini, VP Sales & Marketing for Graver’s Industrial Filtration business unit. Graver Technologies has relocated the production equipment, engineering and sales functions to its ISO 9001 registered facility in Honeoye Falls, New York.
GL&V CREATES WATER TREATMENT UNIT Groupe Laperrière & Verreault Inc (GL&V) has set up Eimco Water Technologies, a separate entity dedicated to the development and management of the company’s assets in the municipal and industrial water sector. Eimco Water Technologies’ mission is to accelerate GL&V’s growth in the water treatment market by acquiring
established businesses and entities equipped with cuttingedge technologies, as well as by taking advantage of GL&V’s international network to develop the water treatment market in certain foreign countries. Since the acquisition of Eimco in November 2002, water treatment has become one of GL&V’s most promising markets. For the current fiscal year ending 31 March 2004, GL&V expects to achieve revenues of US$90 million in the water treatment market.
BAKER HUGHES SELLS BIRD MACHINE Baker Hughes Inc has completed the sale of Bird Machine, the remaining operating division of its Process segment, to Austria’s Andritz. The sale excludes certain accounts receivable, inventories and other assets that are being retained by the company. In October 2003, Baker Hughes signed a definitive agreement for the sale of Bird (see FIA, November 2003).
COPA PURCHASES AQUATOR ASSETS Copa Ltd has completed the purchase of the assets of the Aquator Group Ltd from the administrators of Aquator Group Ltd and Aquator Services Ltd, both based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK. Aquator was a licencee of the Kubota membrane bioreactor system. In a separate deal with Japan’s Kubota Corp, Copa has also acquired full rights to the Kubota membrane bioreactor process and will be able to complete and honour the commitments previously given by Aquator to existing and new customers in the UK and Ireland.
Financial Calendar
25 February 2004 BBA Group Year-end Results 2003 March 2004 Weir Preliminary 2003 Results Metso 2003 Annual Report Published Whatman Preliminary Annual Results Annual Report Published Larox Annual Shareholders Meeting 5 March 2004 Gamma Holding Annual Results 12 March 2004 Zenon Environmental Q4 Results 30 March 2004 Sartorius Annual Press Conference April 2004 Weir Circulation of Annual Report Alfa Laval Annual Report Whatman Annual General Meeting 2 April 2004 Gamma Holding Publication of Annual Report 6 April 2004 Metso Annual General Meeting 22 April 2004 Gamma Holding Annual General Meeting 27 April 2004 Alfa Laval First Quarter Report Annual Shareholders Meeting 28 April 2004 Metso Interim Review January–March 29 April 2004 Sartorius Q1 Report 2004 May 2004 Weir Annual General Meeting 3 May 2004 Ahlstrom Interim Report for Q1 7 May 2004 Ahlstrom Annual General Meeting 17 May 2004 Larox Interim Report
13
NEWS/CALENDAR
February 2004