VA Tech Wabag Ltd. is an Indian
multinational company
A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
with headquarters in
Chennai, India. Founded in
Breslau in 1924,
[ the company is focussed on desalination and ]water treatment
Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, inc ...
for municipal and industrial users. The company has completed more than 6000 projects and is present across more than 30 countries..
History
Wabag
In 1924, Max Reder started Wabag Wasserfilter-Bau in Breslau, Germany. Deutsche Babcock
Deutsche Babcock AG (full name: ''Deutsche Babcock & Wilcox Dampfkessel Werke Aktien-Gesellschaft'') was a German manufacturing company based in Oberhausen in the Ruhr District, the center of the German economy. The company was established in 18 ...
became majority shareholder of Wabag in 1973 and eventually took over the entire company.[
Julius Overhoff's water treatment company, founded in 1930, became part of Austrian ]Simmering-Graz-Pauker
Simmering-Graz-Pauker AG (SGP), founded as Simmering-Graz-Pauker AG für Maschinen-, Kessel- und Waggonbau, was an important Austrian machine and engine factory, manufacturing: machinery, boilers and rail vehicles. It was established in 1941 thr ...
(SGP) AG in 1987.
In 1989, SGP's Energy and Environmental Technology Division and VA Finalindustrie merged, becoming SGP VA Energie- und Umwelttechnik, which merged in 1992 with Environmental Technology Division of Waagner Biro AG to form Austrian Energy & Environment SGP/Waagner Biro GmbH, the biggest energy firm in Austria. In 1996, Austrian Energy bought Tetra Industrietechnik and the environmental business of Sulzer Chemtech AG, and in 1997, Austrian Energy bought the reverse osmosis desalinization
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltw ...
unit of Elin Energieversorgung and 70 percent of the shares of Puraqua shares from Energie Steirmark. VA Tech/Austrian Energy bought the remaining 30 percent of Puraqua in 1999.
During the 1990s, Wabag Kulmbach started a Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
subsidiary, purchased Water Engineering, Ltd., a British company, and the Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
company STEP including a Tunisia branch, and bought an interest in AEW ESMIL. Also in the 1990s, Wabag added Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
and Brno branches.[
]
VA Tech Wabag
In 1999, VA Technologie acquired the Wabag Group of Deutsche Babcock, taking over that company's water business. With this purchase, Austrian Energy & Environment became VA Tech Wabag GmbH. VA Tech Wabag Ltd. was formed in 2000, after the Madras High Court approved separating the operations other than water from Balcke Dürr & Wabag Technologies Ltd., whose India operations began in 1995.[
On 14 July 2005, The ]EU Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
approved an offer by Siemens AG Österreich for 97.15 of VA Technologie AG for about one billion euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s.
In 2004, the metallurgy, power transmission and distribution and infrastructure units, which became part of Siemens, totalled 3 billion euros. These units, employing about 13,000, added to Siemens' significant presence in Austria. The acquisition gave Siemens potential growth in Eastern Europe.
VAI became part of the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S), headquartered in Erlangen, Germany
Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inhabi ...
, though the VAI unit would operate separately with a Linz, Austria headquarters. VAI had dealt with technical solutions for building plants for iron, steel and aluminum, while Siemens made electrotechnical equipment. Both areas would be in one company as a result of the merger.
The VA Tech power transmission and distribution unit became part of the Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution Group, headquartered in Erlangen.
The infrastructure business (VA Tech Elin EBG and ai informatics) made Siemens "the largest Austrian provider of electrotechnical equipment, systems and services for industry, building and communal infrastructure, and for IT services".
A squeeze out
A squeeze-out or squeezeout, sometimes synonymous with '' freeze-out'', is the compulsory sale of the shares of minority shareholders of a joint-stock company for which they receive a fair cash compensation.
This technique allows one or more shar ...
was planned, with VA Tech being delisted
In corporate finance, a listing refers to the company's shares being on the list (or board) of stock that are officially traded on a stock exchange. Some stock exchanges allow shares of a foreign company to be listed and may allow dual listing, su ...
.
Because of antitrust concerns, Siemens had to sell VA Tech's power generation unit, which had 2004 sales of 900 million euros and about 3000 employees.Andritz AG
Andritz AG is an international technology group, offering plants, equipment, systems and services for various industries. The group's headquarters are in Graz, Austria. The group gets its name from the district of Andritz in which it is located ...
bought the hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
division in 2006 for an estimated 200 million euros. The VA Tech Hydro unit changed its name to Andritz VA Tech Hydro GmbH and became a subsidiary of Andritz AG.
Also in 2005, Rajiv Mittal headed a management group along with ICICI Venture bought out the Chennai, India-based VA Tech India, a VA Tech Wabag GmbH subsidiary started in 1996. In 2007, VA Tech reverse acquired India acquired the erstwhile Austrian parent from Siemens for about $100 million. The deal was completed 6 November 2007.[
In 2008, Wabag Water Services SRL in Ploiești, Romania and Wabag Water Services Limited in ]Macao
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...
were incorporated.
References
External links
Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Va Tech Wabag
Construction and civil engineering companies of Austria
Companies based in Chennai
Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1924
Construction and civil engineering companies of India
Indian companies established in 1924
German companies established in 1924
Indian companies established in 1995