Toronto, Ontario – July 18, 2007: Aecon Group Inc. (“Aecon”) (TSX:ARE) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Innovative Steam Technologies (IST), has formed a cooperation agreement with Macchi, a division of Sofinter S.p.a., to offer the combined services of both companies to the North American, European and Middle Eastern markets.
Under the cooperation agreement, Macchi and IST will work together to sell and execute industrial and heat recovery boiler projects in North America, Europe and the Middle East, with IST supporting Macchi's sales activities in the North American market and Macchi supporting IST's sales activities in Europe and the Middle East.
Based in Italy, Macchi is a leader in the engineering and supply of fired industrial boilers for the Oil/Gas and Petrochemical sectors, with a strong presence in both the European and Middle Eastern markets but no historical presence in the North American market. IST is a leader in the provision of heat recovery steam generators, employing a proprietary ‘once through' technology, and has been looking for a strategic partner to support its expansion efforts in the European and Middle Eastern markets.
In each market, the local company will apply its market knowledge and sales resources to provide assistance to its ‘partner' company in landing contracts where the ‘partner' company's product is well suited to the customer's needs. Once such an opportunity is identified, IST and Macchi will work together to develop a joint bid, with project scope assigned to each company as appropriate in each case. Generally, the local company will supply a number of locally sourced component parts for the project and perform any installation work that may be required. The proprietary technical design and production will be performed by the owner of the product – Once Through Steam Generators (OTSG) by IST and fired industrial boilers by Macchi.
“This strategic agreement will significantly strengthen IST's sales potential in the European and Middle Eastern markets while, at the same time, providing us with a new business opportunity in the North American market supplying component parts to Macchi as it establishes its business in this market.” said Bob Dautovich, President, Innovative Steam Technologies. “We look forward to building a strong, successful relationship with Macchi and delivering quality products with our combined expertise and resources.”
Aecon Group Inc. is Canada's largest publicly traded construction and infrastructure development company. Aecon and its subsidiaries provide services to private and public sector clients throughout Canada and internationally. The Company's shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ARE.
Founded in 1958, Macchi became part of Sofinter group in 1997 and fully incorporated in Sofinter S.p.a.'s operative division in 2004. As a leading company, Macchi is active on a worldwide basis in engineering and supply of fired industrial boilers for Oil/Gas & Petrochemical sectors.