MONTREAL, Canada, Dec. 9, 2005 -- Management of Groupe Laperriere & Verreault Inc. (GL&V) announced Nov. 7 the acquisition of the British company Brackett Green Ltd., based in Colchester, United Kingdom, and its U.S. subsidiary Brackett Green USA Inc., of Houston, Texas, from Fabricom S.A., a Suez Group company, to become part of Eimco Water Technologies, GL&V's Water Treatment Group.
In business for more than a century, the Brackett Green group is a world leader in advanced screening and filtration technologies for water used by power plants, refineries and various other types of industries, and will be the platform to continue building business in the power generation market. In addition to this field of expertise, which generates approximately 60% of its revenues, Brackett Green offers a wide range of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment equipment. Its Caird & Rayner Clark Division also offers a wide range of advanced seawater desalination technologies. In each market segment, Brackett Green can provide complete water treatment systems and meet its customers' needs for equipment rebuilds, spare parts and aftermarket services.
The Brackett Green group employs some 170 people and owns a plant in Colchester, near London, responsible for the manufacture of certain equipment critical components. The U.S. subsidiary operates an engineering, sales and service center in Houston serving a broad North American customer base. Finally, the group has a significant presence in China, India, the Middle-East and Australia as well as representation in several other countries.
GL&V's chairman and CEO Laurent Verreault indicated that: "This acquisition fits perfectly into our existing operations and strategic orientations, as it provides GL&V with complementary technologies that are recognized for their reliability and performance, excellent brand awareness and a significant installed equipment base comprising some 9,000 units in operation in 85 countries worldwide."
Richard Verreault, president and COO, added that acquiring the Brackett Green group is consistent with GL&V's market development strategy. "It supports our determination to establish worldwide expertise in water treatment technologies -- including drinking water, industrial process water, as well as municipal and industrial wastewater -- and to provide GL&V with a solid growth platform in Europe. In addition, it expands our customer base and portfolio of technologies in the energy sector, one of our most promising target markets. Combined with our recent acquisition of Jones & Attwood, another British company involved in a similar market niche, this transaction brings highly complementary know-how to our Water Treatment Group (Eimco Water Technologies) and attractive potential for growth and synergies in Europe and North America. For instance, Brackett Green's and its Houston subsidiary's business growth will be leveraged by their access to GL&V's extensive outsourcing network."
Founded in 1975, GL&V (www.glv.com) is a world leader in liquid/solid separation technologies used in a large number of industrial, municipal and environmental processes. Its Process Group (Dorr-Oliver Eimco) offers a broad range of products and services intended for metal and ore processing, as well as industrial and environmental processes used in various other sectors such as chemicals and petrochemicals, food processing, pulp and paper and energy. The Water Treatment Group (Eimco Water Technologies) is focused on the development and worldwide marketing of process equipment in the treatment of drinking water and wastewater. Through its Pulp and Paper Group, GL&V also specializes in the design and marketing of equipment for various stages of pulp and paper production. Finally, GL&V Manufacturing specializes in the production of large custom-made parts for external customers involved mainly in the pulp and paper and energy sectors, as well as GL&V's other units. GL&V is present in 40 countries on six continents and has more than 1,500 employees.
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