Kurita Expects to Double Its US Water Treatment Chemicals Business with $40 Million Fremont Acquisition

Tokyo-based Kurita Water Industries has acquired Fremont Industries, a Minnesota-based water treatment chemicals manufacturing and sales company for about $40 million in a move that the Japanese company expects to more than double its US business.

Fremont provides water treatment chemicals to a range of sectors including hospitals, office building air-conditioning, biofuels and the food industry.

Kurita says it expects to expand its sales and develop new markets through Fremont’s customer base and sales network. The company says it plans to establish a global business network spanning the four regions of Japan, Asia, Europe and North and South America.

A recent market analysis forecasts the global water treatment chemicals market will reach $24.94 billion by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 4.53 percent between 2015 and 2020. This high growth is fueled by the increasing demand of water treatment chemicals from end-use industries due to the huge requirement of chemically treated quality water at low cost from these industries.

Kurita has maintained consecutive growth for 11 years in a row and is looking for merger and acquisition opportunities in the US and Europe, Seeking Alpha reports. However, in light of the incoming Trump Administration in the US, Brexit and political elections in the EU, currency fluctuations might hamper the Japanese firm’s opportunities for M&A deals.

The Kurita acquisition follows another high-profile water company purchase in late 2016, when Evoqua Water Technologies acquired industrial wastewater services provider Environmental Treatment Systems for an undisclosed amount.

Georgia-based Environmental Treatment Systems’ industrial offerings serve the food processing, pulp and paper, poultry and meat processing, chemical, beverage, laundry, and textile industries. Their clients range from end users to consulting engineering firms, to equipment reps and contractors.

Evoqua says it serves about 90 percent of the Fortune 500 with its water treatment services in addition to about 70 percent of municipalities in the US. It also purchased Neptune Benson, a manufacturer of water filtration and disinfection products for the recreational, industrial, and municipal water markets, last summer.