Azbil Corporation Signs Joint Venture Agreement with Tharawat Development Co. to Expand Plant Life Cycle Support Business in Saudi Arabia

TOKYO - Wednesday, June 20th 2012 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Azbil Corporation(TOKYO:6845) has announced that it officially signed with Tharawat Development Co. (hereafter, Tharawat) to create an affiliate named Azbil Saudi Arabia Limited in Saudi Arabia.

The new company will be established in Dammam, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, and Tetsuya Kurasawa, Director of International Business Headquarters of Azbil Corporation, will be appointed President. It will manufacture and sell control valves, sell Azbil Corporation’s process automation and factory automation products/systems, and provide engineering and related services. At the same time as the establishment of the company, the construction of its factory will begin, with production scheduled to start in October 2013. Production will begin with the assembly of large-bore control valves, and in the future, the company will expand its business to offer total solutions covering the entire product life cycle. Also, to live up to the Saudi Arabian government’s and local customers’ expectations for human resources development, the company will provide training facilities and systems to enhance local capabilities for plant instrumentation.

Azbil Corporation held a solo exhibition of plant life cycle solutions in March in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. In addition, it has been accepting and training Saudi students in Japan through its internship program so that they become a key part of the human resources in Saudi Arabia.

Tharawat, the partner of the joint venture, has good relationships with many petrochemical companies in the Middle East. Through these networks, the new company will sell products not only within Saudi Arabia but also to neighboring countries and has set a sales target of 100 million SAR (Approx. 28 Million US$) for 2015.
     
           

Company name:
         

Azbil Saudi Arabia Limited
                                             
           

Location:
         

Dammam, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia (TBD)
                                             
           

President:
         

Tetsuya Kurasawa
                                             
           

Board members:
         

President and one board member from Azbil Corporation; two board members from Tharawat
                                       
           

Capital:
         

Approx. 6.8 million SAR (1.9 Million US$)
                                             
           

Investment ratio:
         

Azbil Corporation, 51 %; Tharawat. 49 %
                                             
           

Main business activities:
                                             
           

(1)
         

Production, sales and export of control valves in Saudi Arabia
                                 
           

(2)
         

Maintenance, repair, engineering, consulting, sales of and training for measurement and control instruments and systems in Saudi Arabia.
                                 

Contacts

Azbil Corporation

Masayoshi Kogai/Hiroko Sudo, +81-3-6810-1006

Public Relations Section, Corporate Planning Dept.

publicity@azbil.com