Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/459793
BUSINESS | 14 | Desalination & Water Reuse | February-March 2015 coRpoRate changes IDE Up for SalE aS focUS ShIftS away from ISraEl wIth amErIcaN aND aUStralIaN ExpaNSIoNS Israel Chemicals (ICL) is selling its desalination engineering arm, IDE Technologies. The decision to dispose of the business followed days of speculation after the New York-quoted chemical firm announced a plan to focus on its core interests. Meanwhile IDE announced expansions in North America and Australia. IDE is expected to fetch about US$ 1 billion. A sale to a non-Israeli buyer will open up Arab markets currently unavailable while it is under Israeli ownership. IDE Technologies is jointly held by ICL with the Delek Group with each party holding 50%. ICL last November agreed to sell its German water-treatment business, APW, to Japanese water company, Kurita Water Industries, for € 250 million (US$ 317 million) and unveiled its core interests strategy sparking speculation over the fate of IDE. IDE in January opened new offices in Austin, Texas and the company has appointed former strategic advisor on water to the governor of Texas, Mark Ellison, as regional director of sales. A growing population is piling stress on water resources in the state which, coupled with years of drought, is creating a growing need for new water resources according to IDE Americas chief executive officer, Mark Lambert. "IDE is set to help meet this need through seawater desalination and water treatment projects," Lambert said. And IDE has marked its bid to expand operations in the Australian water treatment and coal seam gas (CSG) industries with new offices in Sydney and Brisbane. The company has appointed Michael Howard as Australia general manager and he will head the office in Sydney. IDE's Queensland business development manager, Tory Shenstone, will head the Brisbane office. Howard brings 28 years of senior management experience across the water treatment and infrastructure industry. Shenstone has more than 15 years' experience in the CSG industry. "With our new offices in Sydney and Brisbane, we are excited to expand our footprint in this significant market," said IDE's chief executive officer, Avshalom Felber. "IDE has long served the mining industry in Australia, and understands its unique needs for water. "Being local, we can build long-term relationships and bring added value and know-how right from the pre-planning and pre-feasibility study stages all the way through to project completion," said Howard. Meanwhile IDE has unveiled a partnership with water treatment company, Fair Canada Engineering, to expand the desalination firm's business in the Canadian water treatment and oil sands markets. Felber said the Alberta oil sands market had "significant potential for growth," and described Fair Canada as "well-suited to support IDE's sales marketing and customer management activities in Canada." Fair Canada president, John Fair, said he was "excited to support IDE's growth in Canada." l Towards the end of 2014 IDE announced plans to lay off 50 of its employees as the domestic desalination market tightens. The company currently has a total of 550 employees, of which 450 are based in Israel. It said that with the delivery of the desalination plants in Israel at Ashkelon, Hadera, and Soreq it would be reducing manpower involved directly with the local projects. It said it would now focus on the international desalination market and new activities. corporatEpEoplE Koch appoints cisneros in central america Koch membrane systems has appointed Enrique Gómez cisneros as sales manager for mexico and central america. he formerly held positions at siemens Water technologies and Vogelsang. he will be based in mexico city. Boysen joins hazen and saWyer environmental engineering consultancy, hazen and sawyer, has appointed Buddy Boysen, formerly of Water standard, as an associate. he is based in houston, texas. lG nanoh2o hires saudi sales manaGer Salim maarouf has joined lG nanoh2o as sales manager for saudi arabia. he has 20 years of experience in reverse osmosis and most recently served as sales and procurement manager for aes arabia. he is based in riyadh. Gafni heads up doW's reVerse osmosis unit dow Water and process solutions has appointed yochai Gafni as its reverse osmosis business unit director. he was formerly marketing director for dow solar. he will be based in minneapolis, minnesota. layne christensen appoints callel for top joB layne christensen has appointed michael caliel as its president and chief executive officer (ceo), effective 2 january 2015. he was formerly president and ceo of the software and industrial automation division of invensys. he succeeds David Brown, who had assumed the role on an interim basis in june 2014. rooNEy rESIGNS aS ENErGy rEcovEry UpS focUS oN oIl aND GaS Chief executive officer (CEO) of pressure technology specialist, Energy Recovery, Thomas Rooney, has quit as the company increases its focus on the oil and gas sector. In a statement the company said Rooney was to leave "to facilitate a transition during which the company will identify and appoint a successor to further lead the company's efforts in the oil and gas industry while continuing to strengthen its market leading position in desalination." It added: "The company's board of directors will actively search for a new CEO in the coming weeks. Rooney will work closely with the board over the next few months to ensure a smooth CEO transition." Rooney said the company had, during the past four years, developed three new technologies for the oil and gas industry taking its operations beyond desalination. "We believe it is in the best interest of our company and our shareholders to now bring in an executive with considerable expertise in the oil and gas industry, with necessary acumen and industry connections to maximize our potential," said Rooney. Chairman of the Energy Recovery board of directors, said: "Tom has been instrumental in our diversification into fluid flows other than in desalination. We truly appreciate Tom's contributions in positioning ERI at the forefront of a new commercial dawn."