DeZURIK Reunited

St. Cloud, Minnesota (January 29, 2009) – Granite Equity announced today the reuniting of the products and people known as "DeZURIK," a business that has been divided for the past four years.

In the late 1920s, Matt DeZurik invented a valve to serve the needs of a paper mill located in his hometown of Sartell, Minnesota. Then, for seven decades, this DeZURIK business grew through an expanding product line serving diverse industries worldwide.

The SPX Corporation acquired DeZURIK in 1998, and in 2004, Granite Equity and former senior executives of DeZURIK led by Al Kremers acquired a portion of it back and formed Sartell Valves, Inc. This acquisition included select DeZURIK products for water and wastewater treatment applications, along with the Sartell headquarters and manufacturing plant.

Today, Sartell Valves acquired from SPX all of the remaining DeZURIK products. These additional products have application in water and wastewater treatment and they serve broader markets including chemical processing, mining, paper, commercial building, and power industries worldwide. In addition to securing all DeZURIK products, today's acquisition also secures the  "DeZURIK" trademark, patents, patterns, equipment, facilities, contracts and working capital.

On closing, Larry Korf, Chief Executive Officer of the combined company, announced, "Effective immediately, the reunited company will do business as 'DeZURIK,' building on its installed global base of more than 3.5 million valves and on the eighty-year promise of its name to provide market-leading, engineered solutions with exceptional customer service."

Pat Mitchell, former President of Cold Spring Granite and Board Chair at DeZURIK, said: "We are excited about this long-term growth strategy – which increases our scale by 50% and broadens our product, market, and geographic reach – and we are confident in the team's ability to execute it."

Reflecting on Granite Equity's role, Rick Bauerly commented, "DeZURIK is a meaningful expression of our partnership's vision 'to govern and grow exceptional companies across generations, striving to benefit all stakeholders.' This latest development – to reunite DeZURIK – will further strengthen the company over the long run."

DeZURIK, headquartered in Sartell, Minnesota, is a market-leading designer, manufacturer, and distributor of engineered valves and controls for application in water, wastewater, and process industries worldwide. Click to see the new www.DeZURIK.com.  

Granite Equity Partners, headquartered in St. Cloud, Minnesota, invests human and financial capital from our community of investors, executives, and advisors to advance select companies in our region toward their full potential. See www.GraniteEquity.com.