Wieland Group, a German supplier of copper and copper-alloy products, has acquired Italian heat exchanger manufacturer Provides Metalmeccanica, with the aim to jointly develop “efficient [refrigeration] systems with more compact designs and achieve a reduction in the refrigerants required.”
The terms of the deal, which was finalized on February 28, were not disclosed.
Provides specializes in energy-efficient, sustainable technologies in the area of tube bundles, heat exchangers and air-conditioning systems. Provides was founded in 1968 and has sites in Italy, the U.S. and China. Before the merger, Provides was already using Wieland components in its products.
Wieland is a family-owned business with a 200-year history, specializing in copper and brass products, including tubes for transcritical CO2 (R744) refrigeration applications.
“The acquisition of Provides expands our global service and technology portfolio,” said Erwin Mayr, CEO of the Wieland Group. “We can now offer our customers an end-to-end manufacturing process in the field of refrigeration and air-conditioning technology: from the production of copper tubes based on recycled input materials to their assembly into tube bundles and finally efficient heat exchangers, which are installed in large air-conditioning systems in hotels and airports, for example.”
“Our goal is to continuously develop in the area of sustainability and to offer our customers groundbreaking, thermotechnical solutions for an energy-efficient world,” added Ivan Di Stefano, President of Wieland’s Thermal Solutions Business Unit. “Climate control concepts as well as systems for large buildings and facilities can become more environmentally friendly thanks to Provides’ unique expertise. This acquisition is therefore a major step forward for Wieland in the field of climate protection and energy saving.”
Wieland’s portfolio includes the popular K65 alloy tubes, which are available in two pressure ranges, 80 and 120bar (1,160 and 1,740psi). The K65 piping isn’t just suitable for CO2 applications, but is also used for chiller tubes, as it isn’t as thick as conventional piping and thus reduces the required material.
The K65 tubes, made from a copper alloy containing 2% iron, were introduced way back in 2005. In the beginning it was slow going, but in recent years, sales have increased significantly, according to Sales Manager Florian Diesch, speaking at Euroshop in 2020.
The acquisition of Provides is not the first step in the Wieland Group’s expansion efforts. In August 2021, Wieland announced that it had acquired The Miller Company, a U.S. distributor of a wide range of copper-based alloy strips, serving customers across the States.
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