South Korea’s Techcross acquired LG Electronics subsidiaries to expand into other water treatment markets
Techcross of South Korea, which regards itself as the world’s largest manufacturer of the ballast water treatment systems, is building its brand beyond ship-based water treatment and has entered into the land-based water treatment business by acquiring LG Hitachi Water Solutions and HiEntech, both former subsidiaries of LG Electronics.
In March 2019, LG Electronics announced the sale of its water treatment business as part of the reorganisation and sale of the non-core business. Four companies participated in the bidding, and LG Electronics, which gave the greatest weight to the continuity of operations of two subsidiaries, chose Techcross, the sole strategic investor among the candidates, as the buyer of the two companies.
This contract enabled ballast water treatment system manufacturer Techcross to grow into a comprehensive environmental company with newly added land-based water treatment businesses.
LG Hitachi Water Solutions, an environmental facility design and construction company, posted sales of US$350M in the previous year, and HiEntech, a water treatment and management company, had sales of US$227M. Techcross expects sales to surpass US$170M this year and the goal is US$420M from combined revenues and efficiency gain.
In addition, Techcross holds patent and original technology for electrodes, a key component of electrolysis water treatment technology, which it feels makes limitless future development possible. In this regard, Techcross intends to achieve long-term synergies with the improved competitiveness and performance of the company by sharing its original technology for water treatment and the capacity for global management with the subsidiaries.
Techcross chief executive Wayne Park said “Techcross, which started as a small start-up company in the past, has risen to the world’s No. 1 position in the ballast water treatment system market through continuous investment in R&D and human resources. The two companies, new family members of Techcross, also achieved remarkable results in the shortest period of time and have the potential to take a leap in sales by increasing external orders. Based on the capital and know-how of the three companies accumulated in the growth process, Techcross has a goal to grow into a unique environmental company that can compete with global companies such as Veolia Environment in France and Xylem in USA.”
LG Hitachi Water Solutions and HiEntech will be renamed to Techcross Water & Energy Inc, and Techcross Environmental Services Inc, respectively.
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