High technical water treatment | Ovivo obtains 2.4 billion for its activities

The Ovivo company, a specialist in Quebec water treatment technologies which has become of international scope, obtains 2.4 billion Canadians for the sale of its activities in high -tech industries to the American company Ecolab, the main shareholder of which is the Multimillionaire Bill Gates, co -founder of Microsoft.

This division represents around two thirds of Ovivo’s activities and workforce which are distributed in fifteen countries, and the world headquarters of which are in Montreal.

But for the leaders of Ovivo, including its president Marc Barbeau, an ex-Dirigener of the Souche Laperrière & Verreault company, and its owner since 2016, the German industrial group Skion GmbH, this transaction represents “a beautiful circuit stroke” in terms of business value creation.

“In 2025 we sell for 2.4 billion two thirds of a company that descends from privatization [sortie de Bourse] de Laperrière & Verreault in 2016 for 170 million by SKION (70 %) and the deposit and placement fund (30 %). Obviously, we have very successfully completed the development of Ovivo by focusing on certain specialized water treatment markets, such as the microelectronic and microprocessors industry, “said Marc Barbeau during a telephone interview from Amsterdam.

The Dutch metropolis is one of the stops on Mr. Barbeau’s tour of Ovivo activity sites in Europe, in the wake of the transaction carried out with Ecolab.

In fact, even if Ovivo has retained its global headquarters in Montreal, as well as a small technological subsidiary in Sherbrooke, its business activities are mainly located elsewhere in North America, Asia and Europe.

In the United States and some provinces of Canada, including Alberta and Ontario, Ovivo is mainly present in the market for the treatment and decontamination of drinking and worn water in the municipal sector.

In Europe and Asia, Ovivo’s clientele is found mainly in specialized sectors such as high -tech manufacturing and nuclear power plants.

A growing sector

On the side of the American Ecolab, its purchase for 2.4 billion of Ovivo activities in the treatment of very high technical water for cutting -edge industries such as microelectronic manufacturing, which requires large volumes of ultrapurified water, allows it to quickly expand its supply of products and services in a strong growth industrial sector, which must also enhance its recovery capacities and recycling of its enormous quantities water.

“Ovivo has become a world leader in these very high technical water treatment systems in advanced industries. This is what has earned us a very attractive purchase offer from Ecolab, especially since we know each other as partners on some major projects in recent years, “said Marc Barbeau.

For the rest, Ovivo plans to keep part of the 2.4 billion paid with its shareholders by Ecolab as a capital reserve for the next priority of its business plan: to find growth opportunities by acquisition in the water treatment market for the industrial sector in North America.

“We are already very present in the watership treatment market in the municipal sector. But in the industrial sector, demand is increasingly strong for systems and technologies in order to improve water management. »»