NEW YORK, NY — Rheem Manufacturing Co. and Paloma Industries (Nagoya, Japan) have reached an agreement to acquire the Australian and Asian water heater business of Southcorp Holdings Ltd. The acquisition was effective Dec. 31, 2001.
According to Rheem, the acquisition includes Southcorp’s water heater businesses in its home base of Australia, as well as in New Zealand, plus its solar water heater company, Solahart, also based in Australia. In all, Rheem operates three water heater production facilities in Australia and New Zealand. The acquisition also included Southcorp’s interest in Hotstream, a joint venture in China.