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GL&V, headquartered in Trois-Rivieres, QC, has closed the largest acquisition in its history by purchasing all the shares of the Dorr-Oliver group of companies (Milford, CT), a world leader in technological solutions for liquid-solid separation for various industrial markets (environment, pulp and paper, minerals, foods and chemicals). The acquisition was financed through bank debt.

GL&V president Laurent Verreault said that in addition to boosting the company's annual sales over the $300 million mark, the integration plan for Dorr-Oliver provides for synergetic savings of some $12 million annually. "On the strength of our past experience in the acquisition and profitable integration of businesses, especially Celleco last year, we are confident that we can rapidly optimize the excellent growth and synergy potential provided by Dorr-Oliver on a world scale. Among other things, we will merge some of Dorr-Oliver's sales offices with those of GL&V to benefit from the strengths of both organizations and build on their complementary activities. Given the size of this acquisition, we're giving ourselves about a year to complete the integration, although we'll see many of the benefits this year. Judging from our good first quarter performance and current order book, we have reason to anticipate a solid performance in 1999-2000 and significant growth next year."

Verreault also commented on the quality of Dorr-Oliver's resources and assets. "We've had the opportunity to tour a large part of the organization during the past weeks, and are very pleased with the high level of employee skill and motivation, not to mention the excellent market reputation of the Dorr-Oliver name and products," he emphasized.

With the September 1998 acquisition of Celleco and now the Dorr-Oliver acquisition, GL&V's operations will be balanced between two growth segments, one focusing on pulp and paper, which will account for about 50% of revenues, and the other on various target markets such as chemicals, mining and minerals, environmental protection, energy, and the food industry. The company points out that this will considerably reduce the risk of depending on any one market, especially since revenues will be diversified over several parts of the world. Moreover, as a result of the acquisitions, more than $100 million in sales will be generated by engineered spare parts, which are relatively immune to economic cycles.

Dorr-Oliver has subsidiaries in Germany, Great Britain, France, Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands, Chile, and Mexico, and offices elsewhere in the U.S., in Brazil, and in China. The world leader in its field, Dorr-Oliver develops technological solutions for liquid-solid separation based on centrifugation, sedimentation-floatation, and filtration, which are recognized worldwide for their high performance and added value. The company has designed, manufactured, and sold more than 4,000 patented systems and processes to date. In addition, it offers its client base a spare parts service which accounts for 35% of its business volume.

Founded in 1975, GL&V Inc. is a leader in the design and manufacture of engineered proprietary equipment for the pulp and paper industry and other industrial markets, mostly food, chemicals, mining and minerals, energy, and the environment. The company's sales network extends over all five continents. GL&V holds the proprietary rights to most of the equipment used in its customized technological solutions. Its equipment is manufactured mainly in GL&V plants in North America and Europe as well as by a network of subcontractor partners.

With the acquisition of Dorr-Oliver, GL&V now has more than 1,100 employees throughout the world. It has subsidiaries in six European countries and sales agents in some 30 countries in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Edited by Ken Patrick