MERGERS/ACQUISITIONS

Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. has agreed to acquire Moore Process Automation Solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Siemens Energy & Automation manufactures a broad range of electrical and electronic products, systems, and services. Moore provides solutions to process measurement and control applications.

OASIS Alignment Services Inc. has announced that, following a successful bid at the Beloit Chapter 11 auction, the company has been purchased in an employee buyout. The company will be headed by former vice president and general manager of OASIS, Raymond L. Masse, joined by current general manager Debra Breed. Among the other investors are a group of existing managers and employees.

Mountain Systems Inc. (MSI), a software development company for process industries, has acquired eIS Software from Stora Enso of Port Hawkesbury, N.S. eIS is a web-based application Stora Enso developed to provide key performance indicators in a standard way.

ResinTech Inc. of Cherry Hill, N.J., has acquired two product lines from Osmonics, a manufacturer and marketer of water purification and fluid filtration, fluid separation, and fluid handling equipment. The two product lines, the Aries DI Loop and the associated disposable cartridges, were manufactured at the company’s Rockland, Mass., facility.

Electromotive Systems by MagneTek has acquired Mondel Engineering, a brake manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ont. Electromotive Systems is a designer/manufacturer of motor controls, remote radio controls, and electrification components for the materials handling industry.

The Precision Measurement division of Waveteck Wandel Goltermann has been acquired by Fluke Corp., a supplier of compact, professional electronic test tools.

PSDI, a provider or enterprise asset maintenance systems and MRO e-Commerce systems, has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Intermat Inc., a provider of MRO content management tools and cataloging services.

 

JOINT VENTURES

Voith Sulzer Paper Technology has announced the formation of Voith Sulzer Automation (VSA), a uniting of Impact Systems Inc. of Los Gatos, Calif., with the Voith Sulzer controls group in Heidenheim, Germany. In addition, the new VSA has formed an alliance with Fisher-Rosemount. The alliance will develop comprehensive millwide automation solutions built on Fisher-Rosemount’s PlantWeb field-based architecture and VSA’s Millennium quality control management system. The two companies plan to develop a new generation of open, integrated control systems and process equipment.

VSA has also announced the formation of an alliance with Foxboro, a control system supplier, to provide customer-centered solutions. VSA will team with Foxboro to offer papermakers a new generation of control and information system solutions that integrate VSA’s Millennium quality control management system with Foxboro’s Intelligent Automation control system.

The BetzDearborn Co. and pulp and paper divisions of Hercules Inc. and U.S. Filter Corp. have entered into an alliance to jointly sell U.S. Filter’s capital and chemical feed equipment and Hercules’ water and process treatment chemicals.

Babcock and Wilcox (B&W) and Pegasus Technologies have formed a strategic alliance to assist electric utility asset managers with optimizing fossil-fuel combustion and further reducing environmental emissions. B&W integrates a variety of products and technologies to help customers reduce emissions. Pegasus provides combustion optimization expertise and software to optimize the combustion process.

Rockwell Automation has announced the addition of SIREX LLC, M3 Engineering Technology Corp., and Electro Design Engineering Inc. as authorized process application solution providers. Under the recently announced Rockwell Automation Solution Provider Program, application solution providers are industry experts that offer the best of technology, application expertise, and project execution for process control applications.

DuPont and Chemdex Corp. have formed Industria Solutions Inc., a new business-to-business e-commerce company that will streamline the procurement of materials for the worldwide fluid processing market. Industria will leverage the assets of its founding companies to address supply chain inefficiencies in this market. Chemdex brings to the new company its e-commerce technology and experience in building and operating vertical marketplaces. DuPont, a purchaser of maintenance and engineering materials, will contribute buying power to Industria by shifting procurement of these materials to Industria over time. Also, IBM Global Services intends to enter into a strategic relationship with Industria to provide implementation, integration, and e-commerce services to the new company’s customers and suppliers. Ariba will provide enabling software technology to Industria.

 

OPENINGS/CLOSINGS

Huntsman Tioxide, a titanium pigments producer, has announced plans to close its plant in Tracy, Que. Huntsman Tioxide has made technical and operational improvements that will allow the company to finish pigments at its European and South African plants rather than shipping material to the Tracy plant.

 

EXPANSIONS/MODERNIZATIONS

Sermatech-ISPA, a leading provider of high performance fluoropolymer coatings, linings, and accessories, has established a sales office in Raleigh, N.C.

PaperExchange.com Inc., an e-business marketplace for the pulp and paper industry, has announced the opening of an office in London, England.

 

MARKETING/LICENSING

Dunleary, a specialty chemical distribution company, has been awarded exclusive representation of the Mississippi Lime precipitated calcium carbonate product line. Mississippi Lime mines and produces more than one million tpy of calcium lime-based products from two production plants located in Missouri and Illinois.

IMERYS Worldwide Paper Div. has made an agreement to represent the consolidated paper operations of the former ECC International, Dry Branch Kaolin, and Rio Capim Caulim operations.

Neles Automation has signed an agreement with Parsytec AG in Germany to begin sales, servicing, and product development for Parsytec’s web inspection system for the paper industry. Neles Automation supplies process automation and flow control solutions. Parsytec AG is a supplier of software solutions for surface quality control of strip materials such as aluminum and paper.

Jeffrey Specialty Equipment Corp. has announced that GETS Equipment Ltd. has joined its growing distributor network and is now an exclusive distributor of Jeffrey HP electromagnetic and NF electromechanical vibrating feeders and parts throughout Ontario. Jeffrey is based in Woodruff, S.C., and manufactures a line of vibrating equipment, crushers, wood and bark hogs, solid waste shredders, and chip sizers.

 

REORGANIZATION

Vulcan Materials Co. has announced that its specialty chemicals businesses will be combined into one business unit with a common name, Vulcan Performance Chemicals. Vulcan Performance Chemicals includes Callaway Chemical Co., Callaway’s Mayo Div., Callaway Chemical Ltd., Vulcan Chemical Technologies, and Vulcan’s sodium chlorite business.

PRICING

Degussa-Hùls Corp. has raised all off-list prices for hydrogen peroxide. The price increase in the U.S. will be $0.05/lb.

 

NAME CHANGES

Ergoflex Inc. is the new name of the company representing Ergolift, Ergobalancers, and Ergomove products. The company was previously known as Ergotech. The company designs, sells, and provides technical assistance and service for hydraulic and pneumatic arms.

 

CERTIFICATIONS

Six Motion Industries facilities have achieved ISO 9002 registration. The facilities are located in Morgan City, La.; Bartow, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; Ogden, Utah; Beckley, W.V.; and Wichita, Kans.