Yokogawa Announces Acquisition of Soteica Visual Mesa (SVM) and Integration of SVM and Industrial Knowledge into KBC to Enhance Delivery of New Value to Customers
Yokogawa Electric Corporation (TOKYO:6841) announces that it has
completed the acquisition of Soteica Visual Mesa (SVM), a leading energy
management technology provider, further delivering on a number of key
objectives of Yokogawa’s Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan,
namely, expansion of Yokogawa’s advanced solution business, focusing on
customers and creating new value.
This announcement marks completion of the SVM acquisition as a
wholly-owned subsidiary and initiation of the integration of SVM and the
cloud-based Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) provider Industrial Knowledge (IK)
into KBC Advanced Technologies (KBC), which was acquired by Yokogawa in
April 2016. The IK business unit was established to enhance the
cloud-based advanced solution business based on the technology of
Industrial Evolution (IE), which was acquired by Yokogawa in December
2015. A pioneer in the use of cloud-based solutions in the process
industries, IE developed a market-leading real-time DaaS solution that
is deployed at many of the world’s major energy and chemical companies.
Yokogawa’s acquisition of SVM follows an earlier minority equity
investment in SVM made in December 2012. SVM has a solid track record in
the energy management solutions (EMS) field, and provides production
accounting and scheduling solutions to the refining industry.
After acquiring KBC, Yokogawa formed a post-merger integration team that
has been charged with the task of identifying various measures and
setups that will create synergy and derive maximum benefit from the
integration of the companies’ operations, and thereby enhance our
ability to offer new value to our customers. As a result of their
deliberations, Yokogawa has decided to integrate the operations of
Soteica, a leading company in the EMS field, and Industrial Knowledge, a
business unit with expertise in advanced cloud solutions, with those of
KBC.
By leveraging KBC’s premier energy consulting and Visual Mesa, SVM’s
best-in-class real-time energy optimization technology, it is
anticipated that the combined entity will be able to expand its position
in the rapidly growing EMS market in the process industries.
In the immediate term, SVM’s advanced Visual Mesa utility optimization
software combined with KBC’s premium energy consultancy will provide
comprehensive and best-in-class energy management solutions, underpinned
by leading technologies and human performance improvement. Over the
longer term, this acquisition supports KBC’s vision of seamlessly
integrating utility system and supply chain optimization into KBC’s
industry-leading process simulation platform for hydrocarbon processing
facilities, Petro-SIMTM.
KBC, SVM, and IK will be led by KBC Chief Executive Officer, Andy
Howell, and will be integrated under the KBC brand. This will
significantly enhance KBC’s solutions portfolio and the energy
management solutions business, enhance KBC’s ability to develop new
cloud-based services, and accelerate KBC’s efforts to create and sustain
new value for customers.
This acquisition and integration of these businesses into KBC is fully
aligned with KBC’s mission to make and keep its clients world-class in
terms of operational excellence and profitability through the actions of
its people and the application of its technology. These actions also
materially accelerate delivery of KBC’s vision of becoming the No.1
trusted advisor in the energy and chemical industries, delivering
best-in-class operating performance to its clients.
Regarding the acquisition and integration of these businesses, Satoru
Kurosu, executive vice president and head of Yokogawa’s Solutions
Service Business Headquarters, commented: “Key strategic objectives of
Yokogawa’s Transformation 2017 plan are to expand the solution service
business, focus on customers, and co-create new value with customers
through innovative technologies and services. By integrating SVM and IK
with KBC, we will bring together deep and rich business, process, and
operational domain knowledge across the energy and chemicals sectors,
and will connect this with the cloud-based, real-time representation of
plant, business, and supply chain operations to identify and implement
solutions that will sustain and continuously improve performance. The
benefit to our customers is unprecedented.”
Oscar Santollani, founder of SVM, commented: “We are delighted to have
been acquired by Yokogawa and in doing so, unite our Visual Mesa
real-time energy optimization and production accounting and scheduling
technologies with KBC’s industry-leading energy and supply chain
consulting practices. Furthermore, the progressive DaaS capabilities of
IK enhance our offerings and enable us to be more innovative,
disruptive, and agile by leveraging the cloud in delivery of solutions
and sustainability services. This is the future.”
Simon Wright, founder of Industrial Evolution, commented: “The unique
capabilities of these combined organizations and their respective
offerings mean that for the first time customers can be confident that
the investments they make today will pay off now and for the long term.
We have provided real-time data as a cloud service for over 15 years.
The cloud-enablement of SVM’s solutions and KBC’s energy and supply
chain consulting services is a very attractive proposition for any asset
owner or operator.”
Andy Howell, chief executive officer of KBC, commented: “At KBC, we
holistically harness people, processes, and technology to deliver a
sustainable competitive advantage to our clients. We are all about
helping and empowering our clients to meet their business goals. Imagine
having expertise that was previously only available on an occasional
basis, continuously unleashed in an unprecedented yet very tangible way
by harnessing our technologies and those of Yokogawa with a
state-of-the-art yet proven cloud service model. Not only that, but new
possibilities such as continuous model updating, mobile delivery, and
seamless hand-off between rigorous simulation and big data analytics are
also truly exciting.”
About Yokogawa:
Yokogawa's global network of 92 companies spans 59 countries. Founded in
1915, the US$3.7 billion company engages in cutting-edge research and
innovation. Yokogawa is active in industrial automation and control.
This segment plays a vital role in a wide range of industries including
oil, chemicals, natural gas, power, iron and steel, pulp and paper,
pharmaceuticals, and food. For more information about Yokogawa, please
visit www.yokogawa.com.
For more information about KBC:
http://www.kbcat.com/
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