WaterTreatmentChina.com

Siemens announced today that it has acquired the Singapore-based private limited Chemitreat Group to expand the water treatment business in South East Asia. Chemitreat will become part of Water Technologies, a business unit of Siemens’ Industry Solutions division. With sales of more than EUR 25 million in 2007 and 240 employees, Chemitreat provides water treatment technologies and services in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and China.

“Chemitreat has been a very respected player in our region for more than 30 years”, stated Jagannath Rao, responsible for the Siemens Water Technology business in Asia. “Chemitreat covers services from operations to maintenance for both industrial and municipal customers and holds technology expertise in key industrial applications including high purity water treatment”.

The acquisition is primarily about geographic expansion in South East Asia allowing better market penetration. “The market segment for water treatment equipment and services is growing by 7-9 percent a year in Asia”, Rao stated, “and Chemitreat helps us to better address the growing water needs of industry and the public in this region”. In addition, there are no significant overlaps between the Chemitreat and Siemens water treatment portfolio. So, “the acquisition helps us supplement our existing portfolio and extend our regional footprint”.

“The acquisition continues our growth strategy in the Asia region”, said Chuck Gordon, CEO of Siemens Water Technologies. Since 2006 Siemens has ramped up its water treatment business in the Asia-Pacific region with joint ventures in China and a research and development center in Singapore. With an investment of EUR25 million over five years, Singapore will be developed as a business and technology center for research, development and engineering of water and wastewater treatment technologies. “With Chemitreat we now bring our water treatment and service portfolio to Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines”, Gordon said, “This will provide us with a strong platform to accelerate our market entry into other countries, such as India and Vietnam”.

The Siemens Industry Sector is the world's leading suppler of production, transportation and building systems. Integrated hardware and software technologies combined with industry-specific solutions enable Siemens to enhance the productivity and efficiency of its customers in industry and infrastructure. The Sector comprises six Divisions: Building Technologies, Industry Automation, Industry Solutions, Mobility, Drive Technologies and Osram. In fiscal 2007 (ended September 30), Siemens Industry generated sales of around €40 billion (pro forma, unconsolidated) with approximately 209,000 employees worldwide. http://www.siemens.com/industry