HEO H2O Innovation Inc

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

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