GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric
(NYSE:GE), announced today that it is entering the European water
market and expanding into industrial water treatment by buying a
majority of the assets of Idex AQUASERVICES in France. GE Energy
Financial Services is acquiring a 95 percent stake, including debt
obligations, from Idex AQUASERVICES -- a developer, owner and operator
of facilities that purify water for the food, beverage and cosmetics
industries.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The investment is the first for GE Energy Financial Services'
water team outside the United States and its first in the burgeoning
market for industrial water treatment, comprising an estimated
one-third of all water assets worldwide.
Idex AQUASERVICES, a Boulogne-based subsidiary of IDEX Groupe --
one of France's largest private energy and environmental services
companies -- owns and operates contracted, integrated groundwater
extraction and treatment plants for the dairy, meat, poultry, soft
drinks, food processing, canned food and cosmetics industries. UNESCO
estimates that the food and agriculture sectors consume 100 times more
water than individuals, illustrating the critical role of industrial
water treatment operators such as Idex AQUASERVICES.
"Reinforcing GE's broader involvement in the water industry, this
transaction expands our investment focus into industrial water and
Europe," said Alex Urquhart, President and CEO of GE Energy Financial
Services. Kevin McCarthy, a Managing Director and the water leader at
GE Energy Financial Services, added: "With our financial capability
and Idex AQUASERVICES' world-class technical expertise to manage water
assets, we are helping industrial companies free up capital for their
core manufacturing, creating significant economic benefits for them."
Alain Planchot, CEO of IDEX Groupe, added: "We decided to partner
with GE Energy Financial Services because of its keen understanding of
the dynamics of the global water business, its commitment to the
sector, and its ability to provide our water platform the capital
needed to grow. This transaction enables IDEX Groupe to raise capital
for, and focus on, our core operations business -- including
operations and maintenance of water facilities -- while providing GE
Energy Financial Services with an opportunity to expand in a growing
market."
GE Energy Financial Services' water team offers structured equity
capital and customized debt finance for existing assets and projects
under development in the commercial, industrial and municipal
infrastructure water, reuse and wastewater treatment markets
worldwide. The Idex AQUASERVICES transaction represents the second
equity investment for the GE Energy Financial Services water team. In
July 2006, the water team announced it had invested US $18 million in
the Cauley Creek Reclamation Facility, a state-of-the-art wastewater
reclamation plant in the US state of Georgia.
The transaction involving Idex AQUASERVICES is subject to
customary closing conditions.
About GE Energy Financial Services
GE Energy Financial Services' 300 experts invest globally with a
long-term view, across the capital spectrum and the energy and water
industries, to help their customers and GE grow. With $13 billion in
assets, GE Energy Financial Services, based in Stamford, Connecticut,
invests more than $5 billion annually in two of the world's most
capital-intensive industries, energy and water. More information:
www.geenergyfinancialservices.com.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified technology and services company
dedicated to creating products that make life better. From aircraft
engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging,
television programming and plastics, GE operates in more than 100
countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more
information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ge.com.
