In 2012, there have been several corporate movements within the water sector. There are several strategic reasons for each of them, ranging from internationalisation, build-up or diversification.
MAT holding leads a build-up linking several national wastewater treatment plants
In 2012, the Matosas family's phytosanitary group closed the acquisition of the 100% of Depumeda company from Seville that designs and manages wastewater treatment plants. The company, which employs 12 people, has a turnover of two million euros. It is strongly established in Andalusia and has a delegation in Morocco.
«The group was already participating in CIM Water located in the Mediterranean region with a 30% and has communicated its interest in acquiring another company in the same sector in the northern area of Spain to consolidate a group covering the main regions of Spanish territory. It is a good example of a build-up process bringing together small local companies, comments Diego Gutierrez, a corporate finance expert at Abra Invest.
Fluidra and Grupotec acquire to internationalise
Fluidra, a group specialising in applications for the sustainable use of water, has opened a subsidiary in Indonesia. Located in the country's capital, Jakarta, the branch office completes the group's internationalisation plans in Southeast Asia, an area in which it is already present in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The company, which will operate in the Asian country as Fluidra Indonesia, is entering this new market thanks to the acquisition of Dunia Renang, the second largest pool company in the country, with a market share of 20% and a turnover of 3 million euros.
The company Técnicas Valencianas del Agua (Tecvasa), created fifteen years ago by a group of Valencian companies linked in different areas to the integral water cycle business with the financial support of CAM, has decided to resume its initial commitment: the development of this business in Latin American countries. These plans come with the help of a new majority shareholder, Grupotec, which at the end of last year reached an agreement with the rest of the shareholders to take control, through a €2.4m increase to take over 54% of the company specialising in the complete water cycle, in which it already had a majority stake. Its intention is to resume its development in Latin America and seek synergies in the environmental sector.
A very broad sector with many applications
There are several other corporate operations in the sector and almost none of them have any similarities. For example, the Biscayan company MTS VAlves & Technology has sold its desalination division to the American group Victaulic. «It has not been the only Basque company to make a move in the sector. The technology group EGILE has entered the engineering firm Tecexsa, which specialises in water treatment systems, through its subsidiary Leorpe Workshops. It is a move related to the group's sectorial diversification strategy. It wants to apply its technological capabilities in various sectors in addition to the aeronautical and healthcare ones where it already has a significant presence today, analyses Diego Gutierrez.