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Acquisitions fever hits the hazardous area sector
01 March 2008
Mergers and acquisitions in the hazardous area sector are in season with two major acquisitions confirmed last month. Cooper Industries has completed its £144 million take-over of MTL Instruments and Quality and safety services specialist Intertek acquiring UK-based Epsilon – provider of hazardous-area site assessment, product testing and certification services under the ATEX Directive.
Meanwhile in the USA, Emerson announced that it has acquired The Automation Group (TAG) of Houston, Texas, USA although the details were not announced.
Cooper Controls (UK) has acquired more than 98 percent of the outstanding shares of The MTL Instruments Group plc and will exercise its right under UK law to acquire the remaining outstanding shares. The total purchase price is approximately £144.3 million.
MTL develops and supplies electronic instrumentation and protection equipment for use in hazardous environments. With over 6,000 active customers, many critical processes at the world’s largest industrial
facilities are monitored, controlled, or protected by MTL products. The company has a strong global commercial footprint including operations in India, China, and the Middle East. For the year ended December 31, 2006, MTL reported consolidated revenues of £85.3 million.
Intertek, the leading global provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of global and local industries, today announces its acquisition of Epsilon. Winner of the Queens Award for Enterprise in 2007,
UK-based Epsilon is a leading provider of hazardous-area site assessment, and product testing and certification services under the ATEX Directive.
An Intertek statement suggested that the integration of Epsilon would provide manufacturers with a full suite of complementary service lines required for launching products globally. Manufacturers seeking hazardous-area product assessments and certification now have single-point access to electromagnetic compatibility testing, product safety testing and certification with Intertek’s ETL Listed Mark for North America, and product
performance testing.
Epsilon has hazardous-area product testing laboratories in Chester, UK; and Webster, Texas.
TAG becomes part of Emerson Process Management, expanding Emerson’s technical and management services capability in the design, engineering and implementation of process automation systems in the oil, refining and petrochemical sectors.
“The acquisition expands our ability to address industry needs for automation engineering and project management solutions,” said John Berra, president, Emerson Process Management. We are committed to growing our worldwide design, engineering and implementation capabilities and this acquisition will make a substantial contribution to that goal.”
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