Kadant Canada Corp., a subsidiary of Kadant Inc., has completed the acquisition of Filtration Fibrewall Inc., a Canada-based supplier of pressure screen baskets and a dewatering equipment product line from a related company. The dewatering equipment, which includes twin wire presses and screw presses, extends Kadant’s fiber processing offerings and will be sold worldwide through the company’s existing sales organization.
The patent-pending Fibrewall screen cylinder design features non-welded construction, built in the round, to minimize stress and distortion and allow for maximum screening efficiency. The robust mechanical assembly and high-precision wire positioning system allow for tight slot width tolerances and a high degree of consistency. As a result, the Fibrewall cylinder maximizes screening efficiency and provides for a high capacity flow through the pressure screen in both virgin and recycled fiber applications.
“This technology-based acquisition serves to enhance our product offering to pulp and paper mills and we believe it is the top performing screen basket in the market today,” said Jeffrey L. Powell, senior vice president of Kadant Inc. “We have seen a number of Fibrewall screen baskets performing well in extremely challenging applications, including several running in Kadant equipment. We are very pleased to extend our fiber processing product offerings with the Fibrewall screen basket technology and the dewatering equipment as a result of this acquisition.”
Kadant Inc. is a leading supplier to the global pulp and paper industry, with a range of products and services for improving efficiency and quality in pulp and paper production, including paper machine accessories and systems for stock preparation, fluid handling, and water management. Our fluid-handling products are also used to optimize production in the steel, rubber, plastics, food, and textile industries. In addition, we produce granules from papermaking byproducts for agricultural and lawn and garden applications. Kadant is based in Westford, Massachusetts, with revenues of $226 million in 2009 and 1,600 employees in 16 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.kadant.com.
The following constitutes a “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including forward-looking statements about our products, technologies, and customers. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such statements are set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” in Kadant’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended April 3, 2010. These include risks and uncertainties relating to worldwide and local economic conditions as well as the pulp and paper industry; significance of sales and operation of manufacturing facilities in China; international sales and operations; our debt obligations; restrictions in our credit agreement and compliance with covenants; future restructurings; competition; soundness of suppliers and customers; soundness of financial institutions; litigation and warranty costs related to our discontinued operation; our acquisition strategy; factors influencing our fiber-based products business; protection of patents and proprietary rights; fluctuations in our share price; and anti-takeover provisions. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.