NEWS
Combining strengths
Alfa Laval acquires Siemens and HMK announce new partnership deal Drive Technologies, a division of Ian Welsh, Siemens Drive Technologies, comleading wastewater Siemens Siemens Industry sector, has announced ments: “Extending our long-standing partnership to its strategic partnership with with HMK is testament to its success and our treatment company anHMKextension Technical Services Ltd to cover Siemens drive to ensure our solutions meet our customlow voltage motors and drives. HMK can now offer OEMs a complete drive train solution from Siemens for increased project efficiency. The appointment of HMK, based in Congleton, as an official OEM partner for Siemens low voltage motors follows the existing partnership’s success to date. In the first quarter of 2012, Siemens celebrated hitting £1 million worth of growth for its motion control business as a result of its collaboration with HMK. HMK fully supports the specification and installation of all the solutions it offers from Siemens. This means there is now one point of contact for all OEMs looking for complete drive train solutions.
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lfa Laval – a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – has acquired Ashbrook Simon-Hartley, a leading provider of belt filter presses, which is a complement and alternative to Alfa Laval’s decanter range in the dewatering of municipal and industrial wastewater. Ashbrook Simon-Hartley is headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA, with offices in the UK, Chile and Brazil, and has an installed base in many countries around the world. Lars Renström, president and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group, comments on the acquisition: “I’m very pleased that we have been able to acquire Ashbrook Simon-Hartley. With this acquisition we are adding a complementary and expanded range of products and solutions, further strengthening our offer for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment applications.” The intention is to integrate Ashbrook SimonHartley into Alfa Laval. The company will be consolidated into Alfa Laval from 1 August 2012. Visit: www.alfalaval.com
BASF sells marine biopolymers business to Seagarden ASA
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ASF SE and the Norwegian company Seagarden ASA have signed a contract to transfer the Chitosan marine biopolymers business from the former Cognis. Chitosan marine biopolymers are used in personal care products and as pharmaceutical ingredients. The transaction
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ers’ needs in a challenging marketplace.” Visit: www.siemens.com
AB Volvo divests Volvo Aero to British GKN
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B Volvo has divested its subsidiary Volvo Aero to the global engineering company GKN for an enterprise value of SEK 6.9 billion. The transaction is scheduled for completion during the third quarter of 2012. “GKN is a strong new owner for Volvo Aero,” says Volvo’s CEO Olof Persson. “GKN will provide Volvo Aero with the best possible conditions for continued advancement in its industry.” AB Volvo carried out discussions with a number of potential buyers. “Volvo Aero has attracted considerable interest, but in our opinion, GKN can offer the best conditions for Volvo Aero’s future advancement,” says Olof Persson. “This transaction will improve our chances to further refine and develop our core business in commercial vehicles, while providing Volvo Aero with an owner that has both the drive and the capacity to advance and strengthen the company.”
GKN plc is a global engineering company serving the automotive, aerospace and land systems markets. Based in Great Britain, it has operations in more than 30 countries and around 45,000 employees in subsidiaries and joint ventures. Visit: www.volvogroup.com
is expected to be formally completed by August 2012. The divestment of the Chitosan business from the former Cognis results from the portfolio optimisation following the acquisition of Cognis by BASF in 2010. The Chitosan business, including the production site in Tromsoe, Norway, will be owned by the Norwegian specialist for natural
seafood ingredients, marine bioactives and biopolymers, Seagarden SAS, through its subsidiary Chitinor AS. The customers have been informed accordingly and conditions have been fixed to ensure supply reliability through the transition. Visit: www.basf.com
