McDermott Subsidiary, Thermax Form Indian JV To Build Boilers - Update

(RTTNews) - Engineering and construction company McDermott International Inc. (MDR: News ) said Wednesday that one of its subsidiaries has set up a joint venture with Indian energy-environment solutions provider Thermax Ltd. to supply equipment to the Indian power sector.

Houston, Texas-based McDermott said that its subsidiary Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc. or B&W will team up with Thermax to build subcritical and supercritical boilers and pulverizers for the Indian utility boiler market.

B&W will own a 49% share of the joint venture, while Thermax will have 51% ownership. The new joint venture company will have its headquarters at Pune in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the deal, B&W will also license its technology to the joint venture company for subcritical boilers of 300 megawatts and larger, supercritical boilers and coal pulverizers. Thermax already has a technology partnership with B&W to make boilers of up to 300 megawatts.

McDermott noted that the joint venture will have the full capability to engineer, manufacture and manage large power projects for the Indian power sector. As part of the agreement, the partners will also construct a new pressure parts fabrication facility in India.

Supercritical boilers operate at higher pressures than subcritical boilers, increasing efficiency and producing more energy from the same amount of fuel. The joint venture will cater to rising demand in India, which aims to generate power in a more efficient and cleaner way.

Richard Killion, President and Chief Operating Officer of Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, said, "B&W and Thermax have successfully worked together on other joint ventures and licensing agreements for more than two decades. This agreement augments our presence and profile in the global marketplace and presents a substantial opportunity to continue the growth of our business in India and around the world."

In Wednesday's regular trading session on the NYSE, MDR is trading at $25.14, up $0.10 or 0.40% on a volume of 0.18 million shares.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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