The big news story this week is definitely today’s announcement that Ecolab is set to purchase Nalco Holding. The deal, priced at over $5 billion, will help Ecolab to bolster its presence in the oil drilling residual water treatment market. For more on this story, and other exciting news throughout the water world, continue reading below:

M&A/ Partnerships

• Ecolab is near a deal to buy Nalco Holding, the water treatment company, for about $5 billion, which puts an enterprise value on the deal of close to $8 billion (including assumption of long-term debt).
  http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/ecolab-to-buy-nalco-a-tk-for-5-billion/

• ITT Corporation’s water technology and services business will be called Xylem. The standalone company will consist of the Water & Wastewater (including wastewater transport; biological, filtration and disinfection treatment and analytics), Residential & Commercial Water and Flow Control businesses.
  http://www.waterworld.com/index/display/article-display.articles.waterworld.drinking-water.2011.07.Introducing-Xylem.QP129867.dcmp=rss.page=1.html

• Parkson Corporation, through exclusive distribution rights for Biowater Technologies‘ existing and future fixed-film technologies, will expand its portfolio of biological wastewater treatment solutions in North America.
  http://www.waterworld.com/index/display/article-display.articles.waterworld.wastewater.treatment.2011.07.Biological-wastewater-treatment-Parkson.QP129867.dcmp=rss.page=1.html

Projects

• ACCIONA Agua has been awarded a €17.4 million (between construction and operation) build-design-operate-maintain contract for the Escalerilla Wastewater Treatment Plant in Arequipa, Peru. ACCIONA Agua expects to have the necessary infrastructure built in the

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