Korea’s LG Chem to buy Nano H2O

South Korean chemicals giant LG Chem has reportedly entered into an agreement to acquire Nano H2O (El Segundo, CA), a maker of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for seawater desalination applications. Several media outlets indicated that LG Chem revealed the plan in a filing to the Korea Exchange and expects to close the deal by April 30, 2014; Nano H2O has declined to comment. Nano H2O has two major installations of its RO membranes, a 550 cubic meters per day (m3d) facility operated by the Cayman Water Authority in the Cayman Islands, and a major manufacturing facility in China. Nano H2O has also been contracted to supply membranes for two large desalination projects in Saudi Arabia.