ABB Agrees to Acquire K-TEK

ABB Ltd. (www.abb.com), the Zurich-based power and automation technology group, announced on June 3 that it has agreed to acquire K-TEK Corp. (www.ktekcorp.com), Prairieville, La., a supplier of magnetic level gauges, magnetostrictive level transmitters and laser level transmitters. K-TEK will join the Measurement Products business unit within ABB’s Process Automation division.

“This acquisition fills an important space in our product line,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “K-TEK is well established, particularly in the oil and gas industry, which is a growth area for ABB. We see a lot of potential for synergy between ABB’s extensive geographic reach and exposure to other industries, and K-TEK’s depth in level detection technology.”

With more than 350,000 installations since its founding in 1975, K-TEK offers a broad range of level detection instruments, as well as pressure and temperature switches, and will have no overlap with ABB’s existing product line, ABB said. K-TEK has annual revenues of approximately $50 million and employs more than 250 people, with operations in China, The Netherlands, India and South Africa, in addition to the United States. The acquisition is in line with ABB’s strategy to pursue growth opportunities that complement the company’s product, technology and geographical portfolio.