IN BRIEF/NEWS
In Brief • Wilo has laid the foundation stone for the Wilo Campus Dortmund, which is scheduled to start operating in early 2019. The smart factory, a number of related buildings and an ultra-modern office building will be built on a 190 500 m2 plot and employ 1800 people in production and administration. “The Wilo Campus Dortmund with its future office areas and the Smart Factory is perhaps our most visible step into a digital future,” said Wilo CEO Oliver Hermes. “Dortmund will be the number one digital location of the Wilo Group and will certainly set new standards in the pump industry.” www.wilo.com • Sulzer is to provide maintenance and repair services for ABB medium and high voltage motors and generators in the UK market. The agreement gives ABB customers direct access to Sulzer’s service centres in Birmingham and Falkirk. Sulzer will provide inspection, remedial work, modifications, repairs and rewinds of ABB’s large machines rated at 6.6 kV and above. All repairs will be completed to ABB approved standards using original spare parts. www.sulzer.com and www.abb.com • HMS Group has signed a Rub800 million credit agreement with UniCredit Bank. The new 3-year loan facility will mature in 2020. The credit line will be used for general corporate needs, including refinancing at lower interest rates than its previous credit lines. www.hms.biz • Westinghouse Electric Co LLC has transitioned its previously announced acquisition of Nuclear Logistics LLC (NL), a third-party supplier of safetyrelated equipment solutions to the nuclear industry owned by AZZ Inc, to a teaming agreement (see Pump Industry Analyst, October 2016). Under the agreement, Westinghouse and AZZ will jointly market their safety-related equipment solutions to the nuclear industry. www.westinghousenuclear.com • DESMI has appointed two partner companies – Seaweld Engineering Ltd and FlatC Marine & Offshore – to promote its products & services in Ghana. www.desmi.com
Lewa invests in new testing facility for process pumps
Colfax to buy Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH
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ewa GmbH has commissioned its newly designed process pump testing room in Leonberg, Germany. Since January 2017, the newly renovated testing room has had the capability to monitor up to four process pumps in parallel that have a total power consumption of 800 kW. With increased test capacity, replacement of safety devices and the procurement of specially developed, state-of-the-art measurement technology, Lewa says that it has created the best possible conditions for innovative product developments. Product prototypes, particularly newly developed process pumps and individual assemblies such as drive units or pump heads, will be completed and validated in the testing room. Endurance testing with various diaphragm materials or clamping methods can be used to examine long-term behaviour of the products at a customer’s facility.
For further information, visit www.lewa.com
Name change for Sulzer Dowding & Mills
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ulzer Dowding & Mills (UK) Limited has changed its legal name to Sulzer Electro Mechanical Services (UK) Limited. Sulzer says that the name change will bring the UK company structure in line with its global initiative to leverage synergies across the Rotating Equipment Services division. Sulzer Electro Mechanical Services (UK) Limited provides essential services for the repair and maintenance of rotating equipment, as well as specialized services for pumps and turbomachinery. The UK network has 16 electromechanical service centres that form a significant part of the electrical repair capability within the Sulzer group.
For further information, visit www.sulzer.com
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Pump Industry Analyst
olfax Corp has entered into a binding agreement to purchase Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment GmbH (STE) from Siemens AG in a E195 million deal. Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment develops, produces and distributes single-stage compressors and small steam turbines for environmental and industrial applications. For the fiscal year ended September 2016, Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment had revenues of E146 million. The acquisition will be integrated into Colfax’s Howden business platform. “I am delighted to welcome the Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment team to Colfax,” said Matt Trerotola, president and CEO of Colfax. “We are excited by the opportunities created by combining STE with Howden’s global footprint, continuous improvement culture and aftermarket capabilities. The acquisition expands our end markets and product portfolio in environmental and industrial markets worldwide.” “We are very pleased to have entered into an agreement with a prestigious strategic purchaser such as Colfax. Colfax, with its subsidiary Howden, is the ideal purchaser to strengthen the business’s overall competitive position. The sale enables the business to successfully expand in its core business of compressor production for numerous applications, including small steam turbines and associated services,” said Christopher Rossi, CEO of the Dresser-Rand business, part of Siemens Power and Gas Division. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017, following completion of carve-out activities and fulfilment of customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals. For further information, visit www.colfaxcorp.com
John Crane celebrates 100th anniversary
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017 marks 100 years since Crane Packing Co launched in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
March 2017
NEWS/DIVIDENDS While today’s John Crane is a leader in mechanical seals for pumps and compressors, the company built its early success on packing and gasketing products patented by engineer and co-founder John Crane. By the mid-1930s, an estimated 25 million automotive motor water pumps used Crane Packing materials. In 1968, John Crane was awarded a patent for spiral groove technology, leading a shift from contacting to non-contacting shaft seals over the next three decades. Over the years, John Crane has developed dozens of products and processes, including the first automotive mechanical seal; the end-face, elastomer bellows shaft seal; seals for high-pressure and corrosive applications; and non-contacting technology for pumps handling environmentally hazardous liquids. And the company continues to make packing and gasketing materials – including nearly 240 000 miles of braided packing per year. “We’re celebrating 100 years of innovation,” said Joe Haas, VP of Engineering at John Crane. “But we’re also working on the next breakthroughs for industry, in areas like additive manufacturing, materials development using nanoparticles, and Sense™ – a predictive diagnostics platform for the Industrial Internet of Things.” John Crane, which is part of Smiths Group, had fiscal year 2016 revenue of more than US$1 billion. For further information, visit www.johncrane.com and www.smiths.com
Atlantic Pumps agrees 3 European distribution deals
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K-based Atlantic Pumps has entered into three European distribution deals in the first two months of 2017. Atlantic Pumps, part of the Intrax Global Group, has agreed exclusive regional distribution terms with Spanish distributor Cramix, Hungarian-based Öko Tect Kft and Baer Makine of Turkey. The three companies
March 2017
will distribute Audex and SlurryPro pumps as well as Gromatex hosing. “We are passionate about giving more end users across Europe and Africa access to the benefits of SlurryPro and Audex,” said Atlantic Pumps managing director Andrew Smith. “It is therefore fantastic to see proactive, customer focused companies joining our growing network of distributors and committing themselves to delivering exceptional results for end users. For further information, visit www.atlanticpumps.co.uk
Armstrong’s Rising Stars raise C$10 000 for WaterAid
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rmstrong Fluid Technology’s employees have donated C$10 000 to WaterAid, the international charity. The donations were raised as part of an employee Rising Stars international talent show. Contributions were generated through kick-off events at all Armstrong locations around the world and by supporting employees who submitted videos of their special talents. All Rising Stars videos were posted on an internal Armstrong Fluid Technology website and voted on by employees. Submissions included videos of employees singing, playing musical instruments, dancing, acting, performing magic tricks, and demonstrating arts and crafts. Employees all over the world participated and generated funds in support of WaterAid. “We felt the Rising Stars program was a great way to support such a worthwhile organization while at the same time recognizing our employees for both their unique talents and charitable contributions,” said Laura Morris, Armstrong’s Global Communications Manager who created the concept and oversaw the program. The Canadian government added another C$30 000 in matching funds to bring the total donation to C$40 000.
For further information, visit www.armstrongfluidtechnology.com
Dividends • Ceco Environmental Corp’s board of directors has approved a quarterly dividend of US$0.075 per share, an increase of 13.6% over the previous quarter. www.cecoenviro.com • Metso Corp’s recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) decided on a dividend of E1.05 per share for the financial year ended 31 December 2016. www.metso.com • The next Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp quarterly dividend of US$0.09 per share will be paid on 28 April 2017 to shareholders of record on 14 April 2017. www.ampcopgh.com • GE will pay a US$0.24 per share dividend on the outstanding stock of the company on 25 April 2017. www.ge.com • Roper Technologies Inc’s board has approved a dividend of US$0.35 per share payable on 21 April 2017 to stockholders of record on 7 April 2017. www.ropertech.com • Italy’s Interpump Group is proposing a dividend of E0.20 for 2016, up from 2015’s E0.19. If approved by shareholders, the dividend will be paid on 17 May 2017. www.interpumpgroup.it • At Indutrade AB’s AGM on 20 April 2017, the board will propose a dividend of SEK3.20 per share. The dividend is expected to be distributed on 4 May 2017. www.indutrade.com • The Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc board is recommending an 11.0% increase in its final dividend for 2016 to £0.535 per share. Having paid an interim dividend of £0.225 in November 2016, the total ordinary dividend for the year, subject to approval by shareholders at the company’s AGM on 9 May 2017 of the final proposed dividend, is therefore £0.76 per share, an increase of 10.1% over 2015’s £0.69 per share. www.spiraxsarcoengineering.com
Pump Industry Analyst
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