Swiss LNG-equipment firm Burckhardt Compression has strengthened its service business in the maritime and petrochemical industry with expansion into the LNG port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Burckhardt said it signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Mark van Schaick BV.
“The company has more than 20 years of experience in machining and is a leader in servicing complex repairs such as crankshafts,” explained Winterthur-based Burckhardt.
Burckhardt said that last year the Mark van Schaick company recorded sales of about 9 million Swiss francs ($9.8M) with 27 employees.
“With the acquisition of Mark van Schaick BV, Burckhardt specifically complements its repair and service capabilities in Europe and further expands its presence in the service business for reciprocating compressors,” stated the company.
“Burckhardt hereby also gains highly specialized machining expertise and repair capabilities for the global customer base in the maritime and petrochemical industry,” it added.
“In line with our strategic ambitions, we strengthen our repair and machining capabilities with highly specialized know-how to serve our customers as full-service provider,” declared Marcel Pawlicek, Chief Executive of Burckhardt.
Burckhardt added that both parties had agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Closing is expected within the next few weeks.
Burckhardt itself reported a rise in fiscal first-half operating income as sales surged and earnings per share jumped.
Burckhardt reported “significantly higher’ order intake of 450.7 million Swiss francs ($493.5M), up 48.7 percent from 303M francs ($332M) in the year-ago period.
One of Burckhardt’s key new products in the LNG shipping sector is its Laby GI Compressor type LP250, the world’s first oil-free reciprocating high-pressure fuel-gas compressor in service.
Burckhardt’s fuel-gas compressor system plays an important role on LNG carriers to help maximise fuel efficiency.
In addition to its Swiss operations, Burckhardt has expanded in recent years to run businesses in the US, Japan and China.
Burckhardt gave a qualified outlook for fiscal 2021 as a whole and currently expects group sales of between 620M Swiss francs to 650M Swiss francs and higher profit margins.
This assumed that there would be no further serious outbreaks of Covid-19 in markets relevant to Burckhardt and that the global economy continued to recover.
