On hearing the news, Valve World decided to contact Velan’s HQ in Montreal, Canada, and see if they could provide a little more background to the deal. For example, what was their motivation in purchasing ABV? As ever, we received a straight answer from President and CEO Tom Velan: “Since we sold our Italian joint venture in 2008 we have been looking for the right opportunity and we found it in ABV.”
Our next question focused on the two product ranges. As is well-known, ABV has a wide portfolio of products with a strong focus on the energy markets. These include pipeline ball valves, emergency shut-down valves, high integrity pressure protection systems (HIPPS), subsea ball valves, control ball valves, diverter valves, modular double block and bleed valves, slab gate valves, choke valves, and nozzle check valves. Commenting, Mr Velan said: “ABV has an excellent range of products that is entirely complementary to our valve range and broadens the scope of our offering to the energy markets. We can help ABV realize the global market potential for these specialized valves and actuators.”
Finally, it is also interesting to pick up on the fact that ABV’s portfolio includes actuators, which is currently not an item manufactured in any of Velan’s facilities world-wide. ABV’s offerings include pneumatic, hydraulic, and gas-over-oil designs. Asked about the potential of this range, Mr. Velan said: “ABV has an excellent range of actuators and we will continue to grow this part of the business.”
Further Reading/Information
1) Why not meet with Velan in June at the Valve World Conference & Exhibition Americas? The show is set for June 21-22 2011 in Houston, Texas, and Velan is one of the sponsors. Their booth is #417.
2) Velan Inc. (www.velan.com)
3) ABV Energy S.p.A. (www.abvenergy.com)
4) Check out our May 2010 Cover Story on Velan: