Unilever Buys Majority Stake In Chinese Water Purification Firm

Unilever says it has acquired a majority interest in Qinyuan, a high-tech Chinese water purification company founded in 1998. Unilever says the purchase is its biggest in China in 10 years. Qinyuan is one of the big players in China’s rapidly-expanding water purification market (20 percent annual growth since 2011). The company’s 2013 sales were 140 million euros ($194 million). With 2,500 employees, Qinyuan makes water purifiers, drinking water equipment and water treating membranes. A Unilever spokesman said the deal would double its water purification business.