Saur acquires Aqua-Chem and expands its industrial water activities in North America

Aqua-Chem will become the North American platform and water purification global center of excellence of Nijhuis Saur Industries (NSI), the Industrial Water arm of Saur, formed after the acquisition of Netherlands-based Nijhuis Industries in 2020. With the addition of Aqua-Chem, NSI obtains a highly complementary portfolio of water purification and process water treatment solutions with leading market positions and large installed base in growth end-markets such as pharmaceuticals & life sciences, beverage, energy and the U.S. military.

Saur expects significant synergies from cross-selling opportunities among existing customers, development of rental and other service solutions, manufacturing synergies, and joint technical collaboration. Saur expects to grow its revenues in Industrial Water to over €300m in 2022 pro forma for the acquisition.

Headquartered in the Knoxville, Tennessee (USA), Aqua-Chem is specialized in water purification, with market leading technologies in vapor compression distillers, reverse osmosis, pure steam generation and pre-treatment solutions. Aqua-Chem focuses primarily on the North American market where it generates about 70% of its revenues. The company employs 165 people worldwide and works with a highly diversified client base of more than 300 customers across its four end markets of pharmaceuticals, beverage, energy and military.

Patrick Blethon, Executive Chairman of Saur: “I am excited to welcome Aqua-Chem and all its talented employees into our Group. The acquisition of Aqua-Chem firmly places Saur among the leading players in North America. Leveraging the strong complementarities between Aqua-Chem and our Group, Saur will be uniquely positioned to offer an unmatched value proposition to its clients with increasingly innovative solutions. This acquisition is a key step in the deployment of our roadmap to establish Saur as champion of the water transition globally.”

Shane DeWitt, CEO of Aqua-Chem: “Today marks a new step in Aqua-Chem’s long history of excellence and successful development. Together with Saur and NSI, we will invest in our long-term growth, accelerate our product development as well as add new service solutions and resources, helping our clients solve their complex water challenges with superior scale, unparalleled capability, and unique and differentiated innovation.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2022, subject to receipt of antitrust approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.