Water. desalination + reuse

BUSINESS | 12 | Desalination & Water Reuse | May-June 2014 coRpoRate changes NaNoH2o coNfIrmS ItS acqUISItIoN By LG cHEm Desalination membrane manufacturer NanoH2O confirmed on 12 May 2014 the finalization of its sale to Korea's LG Chem on 30 April 2014. "We are extremely pleased to join LG Chem," said Jeff Green, founder and CEO of NanoH2O. "What began as an innovative idea in a university lab just nine years ago is now part of a US$ 22 billion dollar leading global chemical company with vast manufacturing, research and development, and commercial resources. The acquisition will only serve to accelerate the delivery of innovative and energy-efficient membrane technologies to our customers and the desalination industry." "NanoH2O, with its unique membrane technology, has rapidly established itself as a leading RO membrane manufacturer in the growing desalination industry," said Jin Soo Park, vice chairman and CEO of LG Chem. "LG Chem is committed to supporting sustainable, energy-efficient technology platforms that lower the cost and increase the availability of fresh water." NanoH2O, based in El Segundo, California, was a start-up in 2005 from University of California Los Angeles and has become a very successful manufacturer of thin-film nanocomposite reverse- osmosis membranes. The company grew rapidly, with more than 150 desalination plants operating its innovative seawater RO membranes. Collectively, NanoH2O's installed base produces over 300,000 m 3 /d of water per day across 36 countries. This exceptional growth and proven technology captured the attention of world-class investors such as Khosla Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, BASF Ventures, Total Energy Ventures and Keytone Ventures. NanoH2O will maintain operations from its headquarters in Los Angeles, California, and from its sales offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia. Customers can rely on the quality and support expected from NanoH2O while benefiting from the global scale and technology leadership of LG Chem. LG entered the water treatment industry in February 2010, announcing that it would be investing more than US$ 400 million over the next decade in building a water treatment business with the goal of generating US$ 7 billion in revenue by 2020, in the process becoming a top 10 global water-treatment company. At that time, the company appeared to be concentrating on developing its own water treatment membranes, but seems now to have decided to buy membrane technology from outside. LG Chem's reason for the NanoH2O takeover in its filing made to the Korea Exchange on 14 March 2014 was "water filter business development as new growth engine". aPtwatEr rocHEm rELaUNcHEd aS ULtUra Ultura™ is the new name for APTwater Rochem, the California- based membrane technology business that last year bought out the remainder of the Sepro membrane business from its Japanese partner. All three brand names - APTwater, Rochem and Sepro – together with the Hipox advanced oxidation process, were Caption relaunched on 24 February 2014 under the new overall brand, Ultura. At the launch, John Kaestle, CEO of Ultura Inc, based in Oceanside, declared that this integration created a new force in high-recovery membrane technologies specializing in the most difficult to treat and valuable waters. Ultura's focus markets will include: rare earths and mining; treatment of the complex cocktails of leachate from landfill sites; on-vessel gray/black water treatment and desalination for delicate marine ecosystems; electro-coating for the automotive industry; food and dairy; and advanced process separations for life sciences. Michael Froud, chief governance officer of Ultura, said, "Our combined portfolio of products and services will allow us to pursue our vision of becoming the only truly full-service membrane technology company to specialize solely on the difficult-to-treat and valuable waters segment. With 2,500+ installations worldwide, an established presence in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, plus our growing Asia team based out of Singapore and Shanghai, we will provide our customers with one of the largest pools of dedicated expertise in the world." In November 2011, Rochem, founded in 1982 in Germany, and APTwater, a start-up wastewater treatment company from Long Beach, announced a merger, which also included Sepro, in which Rochem had a holding. That holding was bought out from Sojitz Corporation in October 2013. This latest announcement promised new product development announcements shortly in the "functionalized membrane space" and new service offerings, such as off-balance sheet funding of design-build-own-operate-maintain schemes. maNN+HUmmEL BUyS HaLf of mIcrodyN-NadIr Industrial filtration group Mann+Hummel announced on 8 May 2014 that it had taken a 50% stake of the German-based company Microdyn-Nadir. This follows Mann+Hummel's strategy to grow its business outside the automotive sector illustrated by its acquisition Ultra- Flo in Singapore in 2010 and Fluid Brazil in Brazil in 2012). "The product range of both parties is complementary with very little overlap", noted Alfred Weber, CEO of Mann+Hummel. "So is the geographical presence: Microdyn-Nadir is strong in Europe, the US and China, and we are strong in South East Asia and Brazil." Mann+Hummel has focused on polymeric hollow-fibre membranes, whereas Microdyn-Nadir is specialized in the production and marketing of flat sheet membranes and is a leading membrane and module supplier for the micro-, ultra- and nanofiltration worldwide. The membrane division of the former Hoechst AG, formerly known as Nadir Filtration was founded in 1966. In 2003, Nadir Filtration and Microdyn Modulbau, whose roots go back to Akzo AG, merged, and Microdyn-Nadir has been an important player in the membrane market ever since. The company holds a strong market position within the industrial and municipal water and wastewater treatment sector.

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