General Electric Co. has completed its $3-billion acquisition of Dresser Inc., a manufacturer of equipment and components used in oil and gas transport. Its product lines include actuators, valves, meters, instruments, regulators, switches, natural gas-fueled engines, and specialty piping product.
Dresser also produces retail and fleet fuel dispensers and blowers, and outdoor payment and point-of-sale systems. The GE Energy Services and GE Power & Water business units will absorb the Dresser businesses. The company has 6,300 employees worldwide and customers in more than 150 countries.
The energy sector has been an area of considerable attention for GE: it has announced $5 billion worth of acquisitions in energy businesses since the fourth quarter of 2010, including an agreement to pay $520 million for Lineage Power Holdings Inc., which makes equipment that converts alternating current to direct current, as well as power-module and data-center systems; a pending $1.25-billion offer to acquire Wellstream Holdings plc, which engineers and manufactures flexible subsea pipeline products; and the purchase of Calnetix Power Solutions’ industrial waste-heat recovery processes, for electrical generation.
GE said the Dresser purchase “significantly expands” its offerings to energy and industrial customers. “GE and Dresser are a natural fit together. We share a commitment to technology and innovation and we have many common customers in the energy space,” according to GE vice chairman John Krenicki. “We are building an integration strategy that will capitalize on both companies’ existing expertise and strengths. We highly value the new employees who have just joined GE. Their skills and experience were key factors in our decision to acquire this business.”
Krenicki is also president and CEO of the GE Energy business.
