Safbon Water swoops on beleaguered ItN Nanovation

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Safbon Water swoops on beleaguered ItN Nanovation

Shanghai Safbon Water is acquiring a 68% stake in cash-strapped German ceramic membrane manufacturer ItN Nanovation AG, just one month after it revealed its plan to buy 22% of AquaSwiss.

Safbon will immediately loan ItN €500,000 to keep the company afloat, before spending a further €967,000 (at a price of €0.10/share) to buy 64% of ItN’s existing shares by 30 September 2016, providing a complete exit for majority shareholders the Stoll Family and Coreo AG. It will inject a further €3 million by subscribing for new shares at a price of €2/share by November 2016. The deal also involves Safbon buying ItN’s €17.7 million debt from creditors Stoll and SWIM Beteiligungs GmbH for €950,000.

ItN’s financial troubles resulted from delays in key projects in Saudi Arabia, where it supplies UF membranes for groundwater desalination pre-treatment. The Safbon investment will secure ItN’s Middle Eastern groundwater presence while allowing it to pursue industrial and municipal MBR opportunities around the world.

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