MERGERS/ACQUISITIONS

A. Ahlstrom Corp. is selling the business operations of Ahlstrom Pumps to the Swiss Company Sulzer AG. The decision to sell Ahlstrom Pumps is based on Ahlstrom Group’s strategy to focus on specialty papers and advanced fiber web materials. Ahlstrom Pumps will be merged with Sulzer Pumps, part of Sulzer AG. Management, personnel, and all company sites of Ahlstrom Pumps will be taken over by Sulzer, headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Raisio Chemicals Americas and Vinings Industries have signed an agreement to allow Vinings Industries to take over Raisio Chemicals’ Canadian and U.S. pulping additives business.

Valmet Corp.’s bid to acquire the service and aftermarket assets of Beloit Corp. has been approved by the U.S. antitrust authorities. The acquisition covers Beloit’s roll cover division, which has operated under the name Beloit-Manhattan, as well as the paper machine aftermarket business assets and related paper machine technology, such as Beloit’s paper machine drawings, patents, and several pilot machines. In the U.S., the roll cover division has six service centers located in Aiken, S.C.; Columbus, Miss.; Federal Way, Wash.; Neenah, Wis.; and Clarks Summit, Pa.; as well as one in Cernay, France.

J.M. Huber Corp. has signed a letter of intent to purchase the silica white fillers business of Akzo-PQ Silica (APS), a 50-50 joint silica and silicates venture of Akzo Nobel and PQ Corp. The acquired business will join Huber’s Engineered Materials sector, a supplier of performance additives.

Rockwell Automation has acquired Entek IRD International Corp., supplier of machinery condition monitoring solutions. This transaction adds the Entek and IRD brands of condition-based monitoring equipment, analysis software, professional services, and Internet services to Rockwell Automation’s portfolio of asset management services.

Metso Corp.’s automation and control technology business area, Neles Automation, has sold its 51% holding in Oy Valmet Fisher-Rosemount AB to that company’s other shareholder, Rosemount Inc., in order to clarify its distribution network in Finland.

ENSR International Corp., an environmental services firm, has successfully completed its management-led buyout. ENSR, along with an investor group led by Wingate Partners, a Dallas-based private investment firm, have completed the acquisition of 100% of ENSR’s stock from its former owner, RWE Umwelt Consulting GmbH of Essen, Germany.

As part of its program to concentrate its portfolio on core businesses of automotive, electronics, and defense, Rheinmetall AG had, in November 1999, transferred its stake in Jagenberg AG (engineering sector) to Sachsenring Automobiltechnik AG, Zwickau. However, since Sachsenring AG has not committed itself to ensure the financing of Jagenberg AG’s working capital requirements at the time of the takeover, Rheinmetall has decided not to sell Jagenberg AG to Sachsenring. Rheinmetall AG will claim damages for nonperformance of the contract by Sachsenring. A further consequence of this decision is that Sachsenring will not retransfer Jagenberg to the Millennium Capital investor group as planned.

Taylor Holdings Inc. has purchased all of the stock of the Smoot Co. Inc., Kansas City, Kans., from the owner, David K. Smoot. The Smoot Co. designs and manufactures dense and dilute phase pneumatic conveying systems and components for bulk material handling. Taylor Holdings Inc. of Parsons, Kans., represents a group of investors who also own Taylor Products Co. and Avatar Packaging Systems Inc.

Frontier Industrial Corp. has announced the purchase of the BDS-2000 product line from Harris Waste Management Group Inc. The BSD-2000 is an automated bale dewiring system. Frontier originally assisted with the design and development of the BDS-2000 and supplied key components for the machine.

 

JOINT VENTURES

The BF Goodrich Co.’s performance materials segment and Advanced Polymer Technologies LLC have formed a new joint venture, APT LLC. The joint venture will produce and market specialty catalysts, monomers, polymers, and manufactured parts. Headquarters for APT LLC will be located in Huntsville, Tex. BF Goodrich will contribute production assets and various monomers, polymers, and fabricated products, while Advanced Polymer Technologies will contribute its advanced catalyst technology and its Huntsville, Tex., research facility. Each company will retain a 50% equity interest.

paperloop.com, an information and business exchange for the global converting, paper, and printing industries, has announced that it has reached an agreement in principal with eFibre.com, an online auction site for off-grade and direct pulp substitutes. The potential new strategic partnership is designed to enhance and expand the future services and offerings of both companies. The potential new agreement, when finalized, will allow eFibre’s customers to take advantage of the services that paperloop.com provides, and plans to provide, to the industry.

In addition, paperloop.com and Resource Information Systems Inc. (RISI), a source of economic forecasts and analysis of the international paper and forest products industry, have announced plans to form a strategic alliance.

Honeywell and VerticalNet have announced the formation of an alliance to broaden and expand the content and resources of Honeywell’s MyPlant.com e-business, which provides comprehensive resources, services, and knowledge-based solutions to manufacturing industry professionals.

 

NEW FACILITIES

Penford Corp. has announced that it will construct a new $4.7 million research and applications facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Rockwell Automation has recently opened a new Advanced Development Laboratory at the Rockwell Automation Power Systems headquarters in Greenville, S.C.

 

EXPANSIONS/MODERNIZATIONS

Birmingham, Ala.-based Motion Industries, a distributor of hose products, bearings, and mechanical, electrical, and fluid power transmission replacement parts, has recently opened new branches in Elko, Nev., Ft. Morgan, Colo., and Houston, Tex.

Terel Management and Industrial Consulting (Terel) has announced its entrance into the pulp and paper market. Terel specializes in electrical drive upgrades and project management for both the paper manufacturing and paper converting markets.

ChemicalDesk, a business-to-business e-commerce site for water treatment chemicals and services, has added an Internet exchange for pulp and paper chemicals to its existing platform. The Web site, chemicaldesk.com, links buyers and sellers of chemicals, technical services, and equipment used in the pulping and papermaking process in an Internet environment.

WaterLink Inc. has announced the launch of www.waterlinklease.com, a new Web site that enables companies and municipalities in the U.S. to explore and apply online for competitive lease financing for water and wastewater projects. The new site, which can be accessed directly or from WaterLink’s site, www.waterlink.com, provides lease financing options to cover every aspect of a project.

 

NEW COMPANIES

Miller Freeman Inc., a United News & Media company, and Pegasus Capital Advisors have announced the formation of paperloop.com, a new, equally-owned global company that will finance, develop, and deliver products and services across multiple mediums including the Internet, print, conferences, and trade shows.

 

MARKETING/LICENSING

CSC Scientific Co. of Fairfax, Va., and Kyoto Electronics Manufacturing (KEM) of Kyoto, Japan, have announced the appointment of CSC Scientific as exclusive U.S. distributor. KEM is a manufacturer and developer of laboratory test equipment.

Waterlink now holds the license for Natrix technology in North America. The Natrix moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) process is a fixed film process utilizing suspended plastic media to breed microorganisms, which decompose organic matter in wastewater, thus removing COD, BOD, and toxicity. Waterlink is an international provider of integrated water purification and wastewater treatment solutions.

The Dow Chemical Co. and Penford Corp. have announced that Penford has licensed its patented starch copolymer technology to Dow’s Emulsion Polymers’ global business for coated paper and other applications.

 

REORGANIZATION

Automatic Handling Inc., Erie, Mich., is consolidating its North American operations as part of a restructuring program aimed at improving efficiency, profitability, and customer service. The company intends to transfer production from its Wisconsin Div. to its corporate headquarters facility while implementing a phased closure of the Oshkosh site. It will, however, maintain its sales, engineering, spare parts, and service operations at new offices in the Fox River Valley area.

GE Industrial Systems has announced the consolidation of its three systems integration businesses into one business unit, which will be know as GE Automation Services. GE Automation Services combines Dallas-based GE Team Controls; GE Instrument Control Service, headquartered in Pensacola, Fla.; and St. Louis, Mo.-based GE Magnum Technologies. The new division will be headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

OASIS Alignment Services Inc., recently reorganized in a management buyout from Beloit Corp., has announced its new Paper Machine Services Group. Beloit and other OEM-trained engineers and technicians have been added to the OASIS team to provide diagnostic, installation, and maintenance services.

JH Technology Inc., manufacturer of signal conditioners and leak detection equipment, has announced the formation of a division to design and manufacture custom control panels.

NTN Bearing Corp. of America, a supplier of bearings and driveshafts, has reorganized its aftermarket activities into a separate business unit, which includes dedicated sales, engineering, operations, and pricing personnel from within NTN.

 

PRICING

Air Products and Chemicals Inc. has increased prices for all grades of polyvinyl alcohol by five cents/lb in the U.S. and Canada, and $100/mton outside the U.S. and Canada.

DuPont has announced a price increase for its titanium dioxide products. DuPont Ti-Pure titanium dioxide laminate grades were increased five cents/lb in the U.S. and seven cents (Canadian)/lb in Canada.

Degussa-Hùls Corp. has announced that it will raise its list selling price for all QUAB reagent products including QUAB 188, QUAB 151, QUAB 342, and QUAB 426. The price increase will be 5% globally. Non-list pricing will not be affected.

 

NEW COMPANIES

Paperchine LLC has announced its entry into the global papermaking service industry. Headed by former Beloit Corp. senior vice president Laurie Wicks, Paperchine LLC is located in Beloit, Wis. Planned product offerings include mechanical and engineering field service, specialty product and service such as mechanical drive overhaul, and converflo sheets, as well as shutdown assistance, ongoing maintenance planning, and small paper machine upgrades.

 

CERTIFICATIONS/AWARDS

Buckman Laboratories, with international headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., has won the Tennessee Quality Achievement Award. Quality Achievement Award recognition goes to organizations that have demonstrated, through their commitment and practice of quality principles, significant progress in building sound and notable processes.