NEWS

January 2013 Sealing Technology5

Dandolph, President, Silicones and Quartz Division, Momentive Performance Materials.

‘India’s world-class technical talent, growing demand for new applications enabled by our products, and strong growth opportunities, combine to make this an excellent location to fuel and support our growth plans.’

Contacts:

Momentive Performance Materials Inc,

180 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43215, USA.

Tel: +1 607 786 8131, Web: www.momentive.com

Momentive Performance Materials (India) Private Ltd,

The Millenia, Tower B, 4th Floor, Murphy Road, Ulsoor,

Bangalore, 560008, India. Tel: +91 804 147 1840,

Fax: +91 804 147 1850

CGR Products expands with acquisition of gasket maker

In the USA, CGR Products, a fabricator of flexible materials, which is based

in Greensboro, North Carolina, has acquired gasket and sealing product manufacturer E.G. Gasket & Supply Inc of Waukesha, Wisconsin.

The combined company will employ more than 110 people in three states, expanding CGR Products’ ability for to meet the demands of customers who require precision products and quick turnaround times.

Commenting on the deal, Chuck Keeley, President, CGR Products, said: ‘Three years ago, in our annual strategic planning session, we decided that growth through acquisition was an important initiative to assure our long-term success and to provide additional growth opportunities for our associates.’

‘We developed a prioritised list of attributes we were targeting and, over time, we investi-gated a number of different companies. When E.G. Gasket & Supply became an option, we found a company that met many of the key crite-ria we outlined, including geography, capabilities and markets.’

Although Doug Ginter, President, E.G. Gasket & Supply, will retire as the acquisi-tion is completed, Keeley affirmed that all cur-rent employees of the Waukesha-based firm will remain with CGR – an important ingredient in making best use of the experience, expertise and six-decade reputation of the company.

Contacts:

CGR Products, 4655 US Highway 29 North,

Greensboro, NC 27405, USA. Tel: +1 336 621 4568,

Fax: +1 336 375 5324, Web: www.cgrproducts.com

E.G. Gasket & Supply Inc, 1011 Sentry Drive,

Waukesha, WI 53186, USA. Tel: +1 262 549 8300,

Fax: +1 262 549 8305, Web: www.eg-gasket.com

United Central completes merger with GHX Holdings

United Central Industrial Supply Co Llc, a company that is major-

ity owned by US private equity firm American Securities, and one of the largest mining supply distribution com-panies in North America, has merged with GHX Holdings, a fluid-transfer and sealing products distributor in the energy market.

The combined company is now operating as The United Distribution Group Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

‘The combined business brings together two leaders in their respective end-markets – each in a highly fragmented space,’ said American Securities’ Matthew LeBaron.

‘GHX brings the company meaningful prod-uct, customer, vendor, and end-market diversifi-cation, as well as substantial scale.’

The United Distribution Group has been organised into two business units – United Central, which distributes essential supplies to the underground mining industry, and GHX, which distributes industrial fluid-transfers and sealing products, mainly to the energy markets.

Darrell Cole, President and Chief Executive Officer, The United Distribution Group, commented: ‘GHX is a significant addition to our offering. The company has long stand-ing, entrenched customer relationships and a highly experienced management team. We see significant long-term growth opportunities and attractive market dynamics in the diverse end-markets in which we operate. We look for-ward to working together to realise this growth potential.’

Daniel Ahuero, Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions, The United Distribution Group, and former Executive Chairman of GHX, added: ‘We look forward to being part of this growing portfolio. The combined entity has a compelling competitive position and actionable growth opportunities through customer pen-etration and add-on acquisitions in this highly fragmented industry.’

Contact:

The United Distribution Group Inc,

1241 Volunteer Parkway, Suite 1000, Bristol,

TN 37620, USA. Tel: +1 423 573 7300,

Web: www.udginc.com

I N B R I E F

EHEDG sub-group updates sealing documentBased on its recent meeting, the seals sub-group of the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) has provided an update on its new document (currently still without a final title) that covers the use of seals in machinery, plants and components used to process foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals and personal-care products. It says it will discuss the adequate use and properties of elastomers, while plastics and metal seals are not included within its scope. Furthermore, the processing of drinking water will be explicitly included in the guideline. Lately the topic ‘‘pipes and pipe couplings’’ has also been added to the agenda. The next meeting of the sub-group is sched-uled to be held on 13 March 2013 at GEA Tuchenhagen, Germany.

For more information, or to participate: Dr Till Riehm, Freudenberg Process Seals GmbH & Co Kg. Tel: +49 6201 8089 1900, Email: till.riehm@freudenberg-ds.com

Huhnseal appoints vice president of salesTerry Wolfe has been appointed Vice President of Sales, Huhnseal USA Inc. In this role he will report to Per Hellman, Chief Executive Officer, Huhnseal Ab, and will assume overall responsibility for the firm’s sales in the USA and OEM sales in Canada. Wolfe joins the firm with more than 30 years of experience in the fluid sealing industry.

Russian scientist honoured for research in mechanicsDr Alexander Konyukhov has received the 2011 Carl Freudenberg Prize, which is awarded every two years at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. The jury honoured the work of the Russian scientist in the field of mechanics. In addition to thermo-mechanics, his main area of work over the past few years has been contact mechanics. Dr Konyukhov is currently professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Nottingham (overseas campus) in Ningbo, China.

EnPro posts its latest resultsUS-based EnPro Industries Inc says that its segment profit and segment profit margin increased in the third quarter of 2012 from the levels reported in the third quarter of 2011, despite a decline in sales. Segment profit in 2012 was $37.5 million, a 6% increase over 2011, and the segment profit margin reached 12.9% compared with 11.8% a year earlier.