French group SUEZ, a water technologies & solutions company, has acquired reverse osmosis membrane business from Germany-based specialty chemicals company LANXESS.
The reverse osmosis membrane will become part of the SUEZ’s Water Technologies & Solutions product portfolio and further enhances the business’s ability to help customers address water treatment challenges.
The acquisition falls in line with SUEZ’s strategy to grow and invest in the industrial water market. The deal will allow the company to deploy complementary RO technology in adjacent and growing sectors, and to increase global production of membranes.
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“As customers today expand their need for brackish water membranes, this RO product line allows us to quickly and effectively expand our product portfolio to meet that need,” said Yuvbir Singh, CEO of SUEZ’s Water Technologies & Solutions business unit.
“The Lanxess reverse osmosis membrane portfolio is very complementary to our existing RO offering. We are very excited to bring this membrane to our customers and grow in new ways around the world.”
The agreement to purchase the Lanxess’s RO product line includes the membranes, raw materials, and production facility located in Bitterfeld, Germany, along with the expected transition of its channel distributors and production employees directly connected to the membrane line.
With this acquisition, SUEZ will scale up its RO product solutions to meet broader and emerging water treatment needs, expand its international reverse osmosis membrane production capabilities and expertise to help meet growing global demand, and grow its customer base with new channel partner distributor relationships.
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The deal is expected to be completed in the coming months, following consultation with the relevant workers’ council.
Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS stated that the membrane business was no longer fitting in with the company’s strategic focus on specialty chemicals hence the sale. “We are convinced that under the SUEZ umbrella, the business has the necessary conditions to develop its full growth potential in the future.”
LANXESS will further expand its ion exchange resins business with plans to build a new production facility in the coming years.
