Filtration expert Lydall has acquired DSM Solutech B.V. from Royal DSM N.V. Solutech, located in The Netherlands. The company’s Solupor specialty microporous membranes are expected to enhance Lydall’s product offering in air and liquid filtration applications. 

Solutech will be integrated into Lydall’s Performance Materials business. Through the third quarter of 2008, Performance Materials represented 36% of Lydall’s net sales and 64% of business unit operating income and had the highest operating margin of Lydall’s business units. Its filtration business participates in the $2.3 billion global nonwoven filter media market, which has recently seen strong global growth due to stricter environmental and product purity laws and requirements.
 
“This acquisition supports our strategy to invest in technologically innovative solutions for our most attractive segments,” reported Dale Barnhart, president and CEO of Lydall, Inc. “Adding Solutech’s membrane technology to Performance Materials will give an already strong business a new platform for growth. We have already done extensive marketing work with our customer base and as a result we expect this addition to be accretive for us within 12 months.”
 
“This proprietary technology enhances our product offering to our existing customers and allows us to enter new specialty filtration markets currently underserved by other suppliers,” added Kevin Longe, president of Lydall Performance Materials. “Solutech has made initial market inroads and our global sales, service, marketing and R&D organizations will now engage in a rapid introduction of these membrane products into our air and liquid filtration and life sciences markets.”
 
Manufactured by a patented process, Solupor membranes are based on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. The membranes incorporate a unique combination of mechanical strength, chemical inertness and high porosity in an open cell structure consisting of a micro-fibrillar, laminar network. The result is a high performing membrane film with processing robustness and operational longevity in highly demanding applications. In addition to filtration, Solupor targets battery, fuel cell and supercapacitor applications as well as FDA-regulated transdermal drug delivery systems.