Companies will cooperate on global outsourcing opportunities for industrial water and wastewater treatment systems
WILMINGTON, DE, and PARIS, FRANCE—May 16, 2000—The
BetzDearborn and Pulp and Paper Divisions of Hercules Incorporated (NYSE: HPC) and Vivendi
Water have extended their North America alliance to all other regions of the world. The
companies will cooperate to sell Vivendi Water’s industrial outsourcing and equipment
capabilities and Hercules’ water and process treatment chemicals.
Announcement of the agreement was made by William A.
Micsky, Vice President and General Manager of BetzDearborn, and Gérard Mohr, Vivendi
Water’s Chief Operating Officer for Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, Africa and
Middle East.
According to the two executives, by coordinating their
complementary industry know-how, technical expertise, operating experience and product
resources to enhance sales opportunities, BetzDearborn and Vivendi Water will be able to
offer global customers single-source access to everything they need for the optimum
management of water and wastewater treatment systems on a global basis.
"One of the most exciting aspects of this agreement
is that it creates an extraordinary depth of outsourcing capabilities", said Micsky.
"We are pleased with the opportunity to team with Vivendi Water to bring a total
solutions approach to our industrial customers worldwide. Based on our experience with
USFilter in North America, there is a recognized need for this type of outsourcing service
in most of the industrial markets that we serve".
The agreement covers the outsourcing of equipment,
engineering, operations, maintenance and chemical management of industrial water treatment
systems on customer sites.
According to Mr. Mohr, "Global industrial customers
desire and deserve seamless global support for their facilities as it relates to
outsourcing, equipment, chemicals and service. The expansion of our relationship from
North America to a global alliance will ensure these customers have access to this unique
capability provided by Vivendi Water and BetzDearborn together".
BetzDearborn, a division of Hercules Incorporated, is
headquartered in Trevose, Pennsylvania. It is a leading global supplier of engineered
programs and speciality chemicals for the treatment of industrial, commercial and
institutional water, wastewater and process systems, with 75 years of experience. It
became a division of Hercules Incorporated in 1998. The Hercules Pulp and Paper Division
was formed as a separate operation at that time by merging BetzDearborn’s and
Hercules' specialized product lines and technologies for the paper industry.
Vivendi Water, headquartered in Paris, France, is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Vivendi, the world leader in water treatment and distribution
services. Vivendi Water is the leading global provider of commercial, industrial,
municipal and residential water and wastewater treatment systems, products and services.
It has the most extensive outsourcing in the world, including financing, engineering and
design, project and construction management, capital equipment, and operation and
maintenance.
CONTACTS
BetzDearborn: Bob Palangio (215)-953-2569 robert.j.palangio@betzdearborn.com
USFilter (Rothschild, WI): Jim Force (715) 355-3515 forcej@usfilter.com
Vivendi Water (Paris, France): Rupert Schmid 33 1 4924 6929
rupert.schmid@generales-des-eaux.net
