July-August 2021

NEWS Seepex, the global provider of progressive cavity pumps, pump systems and digital solutions, has joined Ingersoll Rand in order to accelerate its growth and continue its more than 45-year success story. Ingersoll Rand is a global provider of mission-critical flow creation and industrial solutions. With the acquisition of Seepex, Ingersoll Rand is pursuing a clear growth strategy within its Precision and Sciences segment (PST) to grow its pump technology offering and gain further exposure to high-growth, sustainable end markets such as water, wastewater and food and beverage. “We are excited to welcome the Seepex team to the Ingersoll Rand family. With this transaction, we continue to accelerate our growth plan and deliver on our commitment to advance our digital capabilities, aftermarket growth, and complementary technology and innovation efforts,” remarks Vicente Reynal, chief executive officer of Ingersoll Rand. Ulli Seeberger, chairman and owner of Seepex, comments: “Ingersoll Rand emerged as the buyer of choice given the cultural fit, vision for the business and their approach. We have had a family- owned business of more than 45 years and it was imperative to find a buyer who had a purpose and values like ours with a steadfast commitment to customer satisfaction. I’m confident our team will feel at home with Ingersoll Rand.” Strategic priority Ingersoll Rand states that it looks forward to working together with and continuing to support the growth strategy that has been implemented by the Seepex team. “Adding progressive cavity pumps to our portfolio has been a strategic priority, and Seepex sets us up for future growth as well as complements our existing PST brands,” says Nick Kendall-Jones, vice president and general manager of the PST segment within Ingersoll Rand. He continues: “The proven capability and expertise of the Seepex team is second to none with their patents and product development, and the robust Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) platform they have built around the pump. This digital capability and associated aftermarket efforts are focus areas we plan to scale across the whole PST segment of Ingersoll Rand. We are honoured to bring these two teams together and I look forward to working with the Seepex team.” Seepex will take on a leading role at Ingersoll Rand and their advanced technologies will be incorporated into existing product lines, among others. Seepex’s established position in product innovation and digital technology will be consistently and ambitiously expanded and incorporated into other areas. Already in January 2020, Ulli Seeberger, until then the sole managing director and owner of the company, established a management team for the future development of the company. Dr. Bernd Groß, Dr. Christian Hansen and Alexander Kuppe were appointed as managing directors. There will be no changes on the management, except that Ulli Seeberger will retire as chairman and member of the board as part of the transaction. Dr. Bernd Groß, Dr. Christian Hansen and Alexander Kuppe will continue to be responsible for the global Seepex business. Kuppe comments: “The change of ownership will have no impact on existing customer and supplier relationships. We will continue our business as usual and pursue our ambitioned plans – now being part of a strong group with many more complementary growth opportunities.” The transaction is expected to close during Q3 upon obtaining required regulatory approvals. Ingersoll Rand acquires Seepex 18 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS July/August 2021 www.hpmag.co.uk Bonomi (UK) Ltd ball valve supplier, Valpres, has obtained SIL certification for its Series 70, 71, 72, 73 and 76, 2- Way industrial ball valves. Safety Integrity Level or ‘SIL’ in its abbreviated form, is a parameter relating to the functional safety integrity of industrial plants in the process industry. SIL awards a numeric value that represents an overall rating for the instrumented function. This rating tells you to what degree the instrumented function within a process automation system meets its requirements to mitigate risk, within a specified time frame. The applicable SIL is determined based on a number of quantitative factors in combination with qualitative factors such as development process and safety life cycle management. The higher the numerical value of SIL achieved, the greater the risk reduction. Employing functional safety standards based on the IEC 61508 standard, the Valpres valves have achieved SIL 3 in the low demand mode category of industrial process applications. Bonomi ball valves gain SIL certification Brian Bennett (left) and Willie Bourn at the special open event.