WILTON, CT, Feb. 22, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) GE Infrastructure, a unit of General Electric Co. (GE), has completed its acquisition of Ionics Inc., a global leader in water purification and wastewater treatment. Ionics' desalination, water reuse and industrial ultrapure water services will broaden GE's current offerings from GE Infrastructure, Water & Process Technologies.
The value of the deal has been estimated at $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion.
"The availability of clean water is a growing challenge for industry and communities around the world," said Bill Woodburn, GE Infrastructure president and CEO. "The combination of GE and Ionics will enable us to focus our resources on increasing access to safe drinking water and providing industrial customers with greater access to ultrapure water sources."
George Oliver, GE Infrastructure's president of Water & Process Technologies, said, "Integrating Ionics into our existing platforms will increase GE's desalination capabilities, significantly expand our mobile water services and amplify our ability to provide solutions to our customers' most pressing water needs. The combined strength of our people, technology and solutions will make GE a world leader in the desalination segment, and grow our services for industrial customers who need immediate assistance treating their water supplies."
The Ionics component of GE Infrastructure, Water & Process Technologies will continue to be managed out of its current location in Watertown, Mass. Jeff Connelly, currently general manager of Global Supply Chain, has been named the general manager, Ionics & Operations/Services and will be relocating to Watertown.
GE Infrastructure (www.geinfrastructure.com), based in Wilton, Conn., is a high-technology platform, comprised of some of GE's fastest-growing businesses, including the Water & Process Technologies and Security platforms. These global businesses offer a set of infrastructure protection and productivity solutions to some of the most pressing issues that industries face. For more about GE Water & Process Technologies and its product offerings, please visit www.gewater.com.
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