Germany’s GEA Group plans to sell heat exchangers division to Triton for $1.4 bn

German process engineering group GEA Group is set to sell its heat exchangers division to private equity firm Triton for more than €1 billion ($1.4 billion), Reuters today reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The proposed deal would come three months after Triton acquired the auxiliary components business of Alstom's Thermal Power division for $1.01 billion. (See: Alstom to sell heat exchange unit to German PE firm Triton for $1.01 bn)

Triton outbid a rival consortium comprising buyout group EQT and industrial services group Bilfinger in the auction for GEA's heat exchangers division.

GEA heat exchangers unit covers numerous application areas, from air conditioning systems to cooling towers, and provides the widest portfolio of heat exchangers worldwide.

It specialises in finned-tube heat exchangers, single-tube heat exchangers, Heller systems, air-cooled condensers, wet cooling towers, plate heat exchangers, HVAC systems, and all kinds of shell-and-tube heat exchangers for all feasible applications, the new GEA segment for heat exchangers offers from one source the best possible solutions.

In June last year, Düsseldorf-based GEA said after conducting an extensive review that it had decided that its Heat Exchangers division was no longer its core business and hence decided to look at all options, including a sale.

''The Heat Exchangers segment is highly profitable and has a strong market position. There are only limited potential synergies between HX and the other business units in the GEA Group portfolio, however, as their business profiles differ. The scope for Group-wide use of technologies and capabilities is limited. In light of this, GEA firmly believes that the HX business will be able to develop even better within a new ownership structure,'' GEA had then said in a statement.