(TÜV Rheinland: Cologne, Germany) -- TÜV Rheinland Group, a leading provider of technical services worldwide, is acquiring Sonovation B.V., a highly specialized nondestructive testing services provider based in the Netherlands. Founded in 1988 and employing a staff of 50, Sonavation provides advanced nondestructive testing (NDT) services, particularly for companies in the oil and gas industry. Typical services can include weld examination, pipe system and pressure equipment corrosion inspection, and others. The company also operates an accredited training school for advanced NDT.
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“High-technology solutions for nondestructive testing represents an important growth area and one in which TÜV Rheinland is making strategic investments,” says Dieter Hesel, TÜV Rheinland’s executive vice president for industrial services. “We are targeting a large-scale regional expansion of our international NDT services beyond the United States and Germany, and we expect this acquisition to help us accomplish that while also helping us increase market share in the oil and gas sector.”
“With the integration of Sonovation, we are significantly expanding our worldwide network of experts for the energy sector and safety inspections of industrial plants,” comments Thomas Biedermann, chief regional director for Western Europe at TÜV Rheinland.
With locations in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Germany, Sonovation’s 2010 revenues were approximately €12 million ($17 million). The company has been growing at a 15-percent annual rate. Moving forward, the company will be named TÜV Rheinland Sonovation.
“As part of the TÜV Rheinland global network, we can now serve new markets that were not available to us before,” explains Jan Verkooijen, CEO of TÜV Rheinland Sonovation. “TÜV Rheinland is already quite successful in Germany and America. Our core competencies can help the company extend its nondestructive testing services for industrial and systems engineering to additional locations throughout Europe and Asia.”
The acquisition of TÜV Rheinland Sonovation increases the number of TÜV Rheinland employees in the Netherlands to nearly 200 in the areas of product testing, certification of management systems, and passive vehicle safety, for which the company has created an ultramodern vehicle crash center. The company maintains facilities in Apeldoorn, Enschede, Helmond, and Niekerk.
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