Business Briefs: wind, water and monitoring

Paris-based water purveyor Vivendi Environment has reached an agreement with its business partner, Philadelphia Suburban Corp. (PSC), a US water utility company, to complete the divestment of its stock, reports Water TechOnline. The offering of 8.6 million shares could be increased by up to 15%. The president and CEO of USFilter, a Vivendi company, says that this divestment has nothing to do with PSC’s financial strength. PSC is one of the largest US investor-owned water utilities, and serves nearly 2 million people throughout the country.

Similarly, Wind-turbine manufacturer Nordex has cut its ties with the German mechanical engineering company Babcock Borsig. Babcock Borsig, a former parent company of Nordex, officially severed its ties when it sold its remaining 29.8% stake in October 2001 to Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (WestLB).

Nordex now has only minor trade relations with Babcock Borsig. Nordex CEO Dietmar Kestner states Nordex is seeking a “multi-supplier strategy” in order to obtain parts for its manufacturing operations.

And finally, Agilent Technologies Europe has unveiled the new Agilent 500A, a real-time gas analyser. The Agilent 500A determines gases and impurities in only two-five seconds. This quadruple mass spectrometer-based gas analyser is a more efficient analysing and measuring tool than previous systems. The Agilent 500A will help developers optimise fuel cell systems, lower costs, and improve processing efficiency.