Chart Industries to acquire VRV Group

Chart Industries Inc. has announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire VRV s.p.a. and its subsidiaries (VRV).
VRV is a diversified multinational corporation with highly automated, purpose-built facilities for the design and manufacture of pressure equipment serving the cryogenic and energy and petrochemical end markets.
In connection with the acquisition, Chart has agreed to pay €125 million, which will be funded by a combination of Chart’s available cash on hand and debt under its current credit facility or another financing alternative, and assume the outstanding indebtedness of VRV (approximately €70 million).
The acquisition is expected to add annual net sales of US$115 million in 2019 and be EPS accretive in the first full year of ownership.
In a statement, Chart emphasized that VRV has a rich history of engineering and design dating back to its beginning in 1956. And during the 1970s, the company began to design and manufacture cryogenic equipment driven by Massimiliano Spada and then by his sons, Federico Spada and Alessandro Spada, both of whom will continue in executive roles in Chart.
“VRV has technical strengths and manufacturing capabilities which are an excellent complement to ours and brings a strong leadership team for continued growth,” said Jill Evanko, Chart’s CEO. “Together we will now be able to provide a broader set of solutions to our customers and deliver faster results through an expanded global footprint.”
Chart says that the acquisition focuses on core cryogenic and energy technologies, for which the company is realigning its segmentation and naming a global commercial team. “We expect these changes will provide improved transparency of business results to our shareholders, better align with Chart’s customer needs, and facilitate our growth strategies through collaboration of global and regional approaches,” Chart said in an online statement.
To support this strategic acquisition as well as Chart’s expanded focus on geographic expansion outside of North America, Chart is realigning its segmentation and naming a global commercial team. Effective immediately, their results will be reported in Energy & Chemicals, Distribution & Storage Western Hemisphere (the Americas), Distribution & Storage Eastern Hemisphere (Europe, Middle East, and Asia including China) and BioMedical.
Chart is in the final stages of the review and will provide an update upon completion.