GEA has signed an agreement to acquire the business of Hydract A/S, a Danish specialist in water-hydraulic process valves. GEA plans to complete the acquisition by the end of January 2026. With this transaction, GEA is expanding its valve portfolio for the beverage, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries with a technology that can significantly reduce the energy demand required for operating process valves, thereby enabling more efficient, resource-saving process plant concepts.
Hydract valve actuators use water as the actuation medium, eliminating the need for compressed air, which is typically provided by energy-intensive compressors for pneumatic valve operations. Water-hydraulic actuators can be regulated at any intermediate position, providing precise, stable flow regulation across the valve.
In reference plants – such as the Carlsberg Brewery in Fredericia, Denmark – hydraulic valves enable continuous inline blending. They accelerate switchovers in batch production, accommodate late product differentiation, and optimize resource usage. In this way, they are an important contributor to achieving efficiency and sustainability targets in brewing, dairy, and pharmaceutical processes – especially in cases where various products are processed by the same process plant.
GEA intends to integrate Hydract’s technology into its Valves & Pumps Business Unit within the new Division Pure Flow Processing. Hydract’s water-hydraulic actuators and valves complement the existing range of hygienic and aseptic single-seat, double-seat, and control valves. This is expected to offer customers an additional alternative actuation option when selecting the most suitable valve technology for every application from a single source.