Arisawa acquisition of Bekaert Composites complete

Arisawa Manufacturing, located in Joetsu, Japan, announced on 6 January 2011 the completion of its acquisition of Bekaert Progressive Composites, the membrane pressure-vessel business of NV Bekaert SA of Belgium.

The Japanese company, which specializes in weaving, coating and moulding technologies, will take over the two Protec desalination and water-treatment pressure-vessel production and sales facilities in Vista, California, and Munguia, Spain, which will both continue to operate.

Arisawa stated in its 26 November 2010 announcement of the basic agreement of the acquisition, that it had less than 5% of the world market share for pressure vessels, while Bekaert had 35%. The announcement continued, “As part of our global development strategies, we will aim to strengthen our business in this market …. by exploiting synergistic effects created by combining our technical strength with Bekaert’s sales force and manufacturing prowess.”

Bekaert sales for 2009 were € 17.3 million from the Spanish base and US$ 11.7 million in California.