H2O Innovation Inc. of Quebec City, Canada, ("H2O Innovation" or
the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: HEO)(ALTERNEXT: MNEMO:ALHEO), a
complete water treatment solutions company providing custom
designed high performance systems for municipal, commercial, and
industrial applications, and Chembond Chemicals Limited of Mumbai,
India, ("Chembond"), a leading manufacturer and supplier of
specialty performance chemicals to industries across India and a
provider of technical and operation & maintenance services,
today announce the execution of a joint venture agreement (the
"Agreement") to create H2O Innovation India Limited ("H2O
Innovation India"), a company dedicated to providing water
treatment systems and maintenance services to the Indian industrial
and commercial markets for the production of boiler feed and
process water, for industrial wastewater reclamation and reuse, as
well as for wastewater treatment. H2O Innovation India is also
expected to increase the Company's competitiveness on international
projects and leverage its supply chain.
The execution of the Agreement took place today at 5:30 pm
(Mumbai time) during a press conference held at the Taj Mahal
Palace & Tower in Mumbai prior to the official inauguration of
the Quebec Office in Mumbai, in the presence of Mr. Jean Charest,
Premier of Quebec, Mr. Clement Gignac, Quebec Minister of Economic
Development, Innovation and Export Trade, Mr. Pierre Arcand, Quebec
Minister of International Relations, and Dr. Indu Shahani,
Honourable Sheriff of Mumbai. Mr. Frederic Dugre, President and
CEO, signed the Agreement for H2O Innovation and Dr. Vinod Shah,
Chairman of the Board, signed on behalf of Chembond. H2O Innovation
is currently participating in the Quebec Government's economic
mission in India, which is taking place from January 31 to February
6 in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi.
"We are extremely pleased to be here today in the distinguished
presence of Mr. Jean Charest, his Ministers and Dr. Indu Shahani,
Honourable Sheriff of Mumbai, to announce our joint venture with
Chembond. H2O Innovation India is our first operational base
outside of North America. Creating this joint venture is a
strategic complement to our growth strategy aimed at increasing our
international sales and in particular our level of industrial and
commercial sales. We are confident that H2O Innovation India will
be successful in pursuing niche opportunities and applications and
look forward to start working immediately with our new partners",
stated Frederic Dugre, President and CEO of H2O Innovation Inc.
"H2O Innovation India will play a key role in expanding
Chembond's water treatment solutions beyond the sale of chemicals
and services, enabling us to increase our share of the market and
to add product lines to our portfolio in order to better serve our
existing and future clients.
We are pleased to partner with H2O Innovation, a solid and
knowledgeable player in the water treatment industry, and we are
confident that our expertise and our existing long standing client
relationships with many of India's leading manufacturing and
commercial companies will actively contribute to the future
successes of H2O Innovation India", stated Dr. Vinod Shah, Chairman
of the Board of Chembond Chemicals Limited.
Pursuant to the Agreement, Chembond will own 51% of the shares
of the joint venture and H2O Innovation will own the remaining 49%.
Both partners will share seats on the Board of Directors of H2O
Innovation India. H2O Innovation's Frederic Dugre will serve as
Chairman of the Board and Chembond's Nirmal Shah serve as Managing
Director. The partners have supplied on a prorated basis the
initial funding required to finance the start-up of the joint
venture and to provide it with sufficient initial working capital
for the first year of operations. H2O Innovation India's sales
objectives are to generate between CAN$5 million and CAN$8 million
within its first three years of operation.
The joint venture will operate out of facilities located in
Chembond's centre in Mumbai. It is expected to initially have 12
active employees, including a complete and locally based
management, engineering, and sales teams with extensive experience
in the water treatment industry. H2O Innovation India's internal
sales team is already active, identifying and developing sales
opportunities.
H2O Innovation India will focus exclusively on capital equipment
sales in the Indian industrial and commercial water treatment
market, a market estimated at US$320 million and growing at a
compounded annual rate of 10.5% according to Global Water
Intelligence's Global Water Market 2008.
By partnering with Chembond-a company founded more than thirty
years ago-, H2O Innovation has chosen an experienced ally to enter
the Indian industrial and commercial water treatment market. The
joint venture announced today is Chembond's third joint venture but
the first focusing on system and equipment sales. Chembond has been
operating two joint ventures in the specialty chemicals business
for industrial applications, one for more than 13 years and the
other for 9 years. Chembond is headquartered in Mumbai where is
also located its research and development centre.
Throughout India, Chembond operates five manufacturing plants
and five sales offices and serves a roster of leading manufacturing
companies-Indian and international-in several industries but
particularly in the automotive assembly, refining and
petrochemical, power generation, steel and construction. The
addition of Chembond's client base with the H2O Innovation's
knowledge and expertise in custom-designed and packaged water
treatment systems for industrial and commercial applications will
be of core importance to the success of the joint venture.
It is also expected that H2O Innovation India will serve as a
sourcing and procurement platform for H2O Innovation, enabling it
to leverage its supply chain by identifying new suppliers in the
region and establish purchasing relationships with them for key
system components and parts. After having picked up speed with
local projects, H2O Innovation India will be called upon as
sub-contractor for H2O Innovation's international projects, with
objective to increase the Company's competitiveness on systems to
be delivered to end-users located outside of North America.
The establishment of H2O Innovation India comes after the
announcement twelve days ago on January 20 that H2O Innovation
signed a sales representation agreement with 3M Purification for
the U.S. oil & gas and automotive assembly markets, an
initiative also aimed at increasing the Company's revenues from
industrial sales and better balancing its sources of revenue, which
still mostly come from the North American municipal market.
Prospective disclosures
Certain statements set forth in this press release regarding the
creation of H2O Innovation India as well as other communications by
the Company to the public that describe more generally management
objectives, projections, estimates, expectations or forecasts may
constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of
securities legislation. Forward-looking statements concern analysis
and other information based on forecast future results and the
estimate of amounts that cannot yet be yet determined. Forward
-looking statements include the use of the words "expect",
"believe", "estimate" and other similar terms as well as those
usually used in the future and the conditional, notably regarding
certain assumptions as to the success of a venture. Those
forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and
uncertainties which may result in actual and future results of the
Company to be materially different than those indicated.
Information about the risk factors to which the Company is exposed
is provided in the Annual Information Form dated September 28, 2009
available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and without limitation, to those
risks indicated in said document, factors of uncertainty and risk
in this particular venture might result from market acceptance of
the solutions and systems of H2O Innovation India in the
south-Asian targeted markets, cost of raw materials, foreign
currency, risk management, of growth and of international
activities and general changes in economic conditions. Unless
required to do so pursuant to applicable securities legislation,
H2O Innovation assumes no obligation to update or revise
forward-looking statements contained in this press release or in
other communications as a result of new information, future events
and other changes.
About H2O Innovation Inc.
With 10 years of experience developing water treatment
solutions, H2O Innovation is establishing itself as a key player in
sustainable development and clean technologies in North America and
abroad. H2O Innovation designs, develops, produces, and integrates
state-of-the-art custom-built water treatment systems for the
production of drinking water, the reclamation of water, the
treatment of wastewater and industrial process water in the
municipal, commercial, industrial, oil & gas, mining, and
energy markets. Additionally, the Company offers complete operating
and maintenance solutions for membrane filtration and reverse
osmosis systems. H2O Innovation has approximately 100 employees and
eight offices including three manufacturing and assembly plants in
Canada and the United States. Shares of H2O Innovation are listed
on the TSX Venture Exchange (HEO) as well as on the NYSE Euronext
Alternext Exchange (MNEMO: ALHEO). For more information about H2O
Innovation, visit the Company's website at
www.h2oinnovation.com
About Chembond Chemicals Limited
Founded in 1975, Chembond Chemicals Limited has headquarters in
Mumbai and focuses on the speciality chemicals segment. The company
is listed on the Mumbai Stock Exchange (BSE: CHEMBOND) and has an
established presence across India. It operates four divisions -
construction chemicals, coatings, trading and biotechnology; and
two joint ventures - Henkel Chembond Surface Technologies Ltd. and
Chembond Ashland Water Technologies Ltd. Chembond has been growing
consistently over the years on the strength of its technology and
service capabilities and counts over 500 employees. More
information on Chembond Chemicals Limited can be found on
Chembond's website at www.chembondindia.com.
Source:
H2O Innovation Inc. and Chembond Chemicals Limited
www.h2oinnovation.com / www.chembondindia.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) nor the Alternext Exchange accepts responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts: H2O Innovation Inc. Canada/U.S.A.: Guillaume Ducharme
+1 418-928-0234 guillaume.ducharme@h2oinnovation.com India: Nirmal
Shah +91 22-6614-3000 nirmal.shah@chembondindia.com
H2O Innovation (TSXV:HEO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
H2O Innovation (TSXV:HEO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024