07-03-2012

Metso expands its offering to the oil, gas and power industries by acquiring Valstone Control

Metso has signed an agreement to acquire South Korean valve technology company, Valstone Control Inc. (Valstone). The acquisition strengthens Metso’s control valve and service offering for customers in the oil and gas and power industries. Valstone’s globe valves add to Metso’s current wide portfolio of control valves. The acquired technology plays a key role in most critical processes with extreme pressures and temperatures. The acquisition follows Metso’s strategy and strengthens Metso’s market position in the growing Asian markets.

Valstone is a privately owned globe valve and service specialist company. Its customers include many of the leading South Korean petrochemical and power generation companies and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies. Valstone’s net sales are less than MEUR 10. More information: www.valstone.com. The value of the transaction will not be disclosed.

Metso has an ambitious growth strategy to develop its valve business.The Valstone acquisition is preceded by a series of investments in Metso’s global valve offering. Last year Metso opened a new valve technology center in Finland, and the previous year in Shanghai, China. Currently, Metso is expanding its valve production premises in the US as well as building a new supply and service center in India. Additionally, Metso has high-class industrial valve facilities in Brazil and Germany.

Commitment to meeting customer needs has also made Metso a leading valve technology service supplier. For example, customers like Petrobras and Arcelor Mittal have awarded Metso with large service contracts. Valstone strengthens Metso’s service capabilities in the growing South Korean market. For valve customers alone, Metso has 31 service centers around the globe.

‘’The acquisition of Valstone and the preceding investments confirm that we are in the business with a long-term strategy to continuously improve our technology offering and services to benefit our customers. Asian growth markets have a key role in our strategy. We invest heavily in these markets in order to serve our customers better, both locally and globally’’, says Perttu Louhiluoto, President, Metso Automation.

The Automation segment’s process automation and flow control solutions meet the growing needs of Metso’s customer industries to improve production process efficiency as raw materials and energy sources become scarcer and their costs increase. Our global network of service experts delivers business solutions to our customers that improve their productivity, lower risks and optimize costs.