Classification society BV acquire LVQ-WP, a German group specializing in non-destructive testing (NDT) and industrial inspection services.
Founded in 1994, LVQ-WP is headquartered in Muelheim in the Rhein-Ruhr area, which is a strategic industrial cluster in Germany, and provides services to the power, process and manufacturing sectors in Germany and Eastern Europe.
LVQ-WP currently has 120 highly qualified employees and its 2012 revenues totaled around EUR9 million.
In Europe, non-destructive testing and industrial inspection services represent an attractive market, estimated at EUR850 million with a growth rate of around 8% per year, in which demand is driven by the need to maintain the integrity of ageing infrastructure.
The acquisition of LVQ-WP will enable Bureau Veritas to better serve German and Eastern Europe industries. Following the acquisition of Pockrandt (NDT), UniCar Group (automotive inspection), ECL (electrical and electronic product testing), and 7Layers (mobile and wireless electronics testing), this is the fifth transaction made by Bureau Veritas in Germany since early 2012.