Freudenberg Invests in Water and Membrane Filtration Business

DETROIT, March 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Freudenberg Group has acquired the British company Aquabio Limited, with effect from March 1, 2013. Based in Hallow, Worcestershire, UK, Aquabio is a leading specialist in water and wastewater reuse for large-scale industrial applications. Founded in 1997, the company has 16 employees, and designs and supplies turnkey membrane filtration systems for water and wastewater recycling.

"With the acquisition of Aquabio, the Freudenberg Group now has additional know-how in water filtration. This represents a further strategic step in the development of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies," stresses Dr. Mohsen Sohi, Speaker of the Freudenberg Group Management Board. Customers include well-known companies such as Alpro, Muller, Procter&Gamble or Unilever. "The aim of the Freudenberg Group is to expand our portfolio in the rapidly growing market of industrial water filtration," explains Dr. Sohi. 

Steve Goodwin, Managing Director of Aquabio Ltd., who will continue to lead the UK based water treatment specialist, sees considerable market opportunities for Aquabio. As a global company, the Freudenberg Group will provide Aquabio with the opportunity to expand, especially internationally, in the food, beverage, paper, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Dr. Andreas Kreuter, Speaker of the Management Board of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, explains: "Industrial companies are increasing their investment in water and wastewater filtration to preserve scarce resources and to fulfill exacting environmental regulations. Aquabio provides excellent cutting-edge filtration technology particularly for industrial wastewater recycling and reuse. The company fits perfectly to the portfolio of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies which has been offering technically demanding filtration solutions for more than sixty years."

Leading Supplier of Industrial Membrane Bioreactors (MBR)

Micro and ultrafiltration membranes, which form part of Aquabio's product portfolio, guarantee the removal of bacteria and solid particles. With MBR filtration technology, effluent of high enough quality can then be reused in industrial processes. Furthermore wastewater can even be reused as drinking water through the application of high-performance membranes in combination with tertiary hyperfiltration and disinfection technologies. Further advantages of MBR filtration over conventional processes include a small footprint, easy retrofit and upgrade of existing wastewater treatment plants.

About Freudenberg Filtration Technologies: Concern for clean air and clean liquids is one of the central challenges facing society today and even more so in the future. As part of a global entity comprising 35 locations and 16 production sites, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies in North America is a proven leader serving Industrial, Liquid and Cabin Air Filtration markets under the trusted brands of Viledon®  and micronAir®.  A core part of Freudenberg's Liquid Filtration business is to provide high technology nonwoven media as support carriers to membrane applications.  These membrane applications include water purification systems.  Discover on-line at www.freudenberg-filter.com. "We provide superior filtration solutions to improve the quality of life."

About Freudenberg in North America: Freudenberg North America Limited Partnership is the North American holding company for Freudenberg & Co. of Weinheim, Germany, which owns a family of companies which operate 15 unique businesses at 58 locations in North America. Together, these companies provide innovative products and solutions to customers in industries ranging from automotive, aerospace, and medical to chemical, oil and gas, and construction.

About the Freudenberg Group: The Freudenberg Group is a family company offering its customers technically challenging product solutions and services. The Group is first and foremost a supplier specializing in seals and vibration control technology, nonwovens, filtration, lubricants, and release agents as well as mechatronic products. The end-user can find modern Freudenberg household products in the shops under the brand names of vileda®, O-Cedar® and Wettex®. For mid-size companies, in particular, Freudenberg develops software solutions and IT services. In 2011, the Freudenberg Group employed more than 37,000 people in 58 countries and generated sales of over 7.8 billion USD.

For further information, please visit www.freudenberg.us.

SOURCE Freudenberg Group