Dresser-Rand signs definitive agreement to acquire Synchrony, Inc.

Dresser-Rand Group Inc., a global supplier of rotating equipment and aftermarket parts and services, has recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire Synchrony, Inc.  The transaction is expected to close in January 2012. 

Under the agreement, Dresser-Rand will acquire Synchrony, Inc. for approximately $50 million net of cash acquired.  The agreement includes the potential for additional consideration of up to a maximum of $10 million tied to technical milestones and to business performance. The operating costs for this acquisition are already included in the Company's guidance for 2012 previously provided.

Synchrony, headquartered in Roanoke County, Virginia, is a technology development company which develops, manufactures active magnetic bearings (AMB), high speed motors and generators and power electronics.

According to Christopher Rossi, Dresser-Rand's Vice President of Technology and Business Development, the overall value proposition for eliminating auxiliary oil systems centers around three principles:

a) reduced footprint and weight in platform, and FPSO applications which generate overall CAPEX savings in the construction phase,

b) oil-lubricated bearings in subsea applications are neither practical nor reliable, and

c) lubrication oil in compressor and steam turbine applications in general needs to be reconditioned and ultimately discarded as it is mixed with process gas or steam, thus making it environmentally unfriendly.