• German-Japanese joint venture to become the second-largest canned motor pump manufacturer in Europe
FRANKENTHAL, Germany, April 8, 2008 -- Subject to approval of the German cartel office, KSB Aktiengesellschaft, Frankenthal (Germany), and the Japanese company Nikkiso Co., Ltd., Tokyo, will establish a joint-venture company based in Altenstadt near Frankfurt on 1 July 2008. The partners will each hold a 50 percent interest in the new company and have agreed to divide the management duties between them. The Nikkiso-KSB GmbH joint venture will focus on the development and provision of canned motor pumps for customers in Europe and the Middle East.
With a volume of around €50 million, Europe is the most important market for these seal-less pump units after Asia. Nikkiso-KSB GmbH will be the second-largest supplier in this market.
The products of the new company will be used above all for those processes in which zero leakage of the fluid pumped is an absolute requirement, for example for the transport of explosive or toxic media. The main customers are industrial plant engineering contractors as well as chemical and process engineering companies.
The companies participating in the joint venture aim to jointly design and build a new pump series by 2010. KSB's contribution to the new product will be its well-proven pump hydraulics, while Nikkiso will contribute its broad range of special motors.
In addition, the Japanese company, which besides pumps also manufactures components for medical equipment and the aviation industry, will bring its canned motor pumps for high pressures and flow rates into the joint venture.
In Altenstadt, Nikkiso-KSB GmbH is planning to set up a competence centre for customised design and order processing. In addition, there will be facilities for machining, assembly and test runs, among others. Nikkiso Pumps Europe GmbH, Altenstadt, the German subsidiary of the Japanese partner, will be incorporated into the joint venture.
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