May 30, 20222 min
Chart Industries has expanded its cold box manufacturing capability (helium/hydrogen liquefaction) and capacity by acquiring Fronti Fabrications for US$20m. Fronti is a specialist in engineering, machining and welding for the cryogenic and gas industries, and also supplies new build pressure vessels and performs repairs. The acquisition of the firm will help Chart gain an addition cold box fabrication facility in Pennsylvania to meet present demands, and add both agility and capacity to further improve delivery lead-times and future orders.
Press release
Chart Industries, Inc. (“Chart”) (NYSE: GTLS), a leading global manufacturer of liquefaction and cryogenic equipment serving multiple applications in the energy and industrial gas end markets, today completed the acquisition of Fronti Fabrications, Inc. (“Fronti”) for $20 million (subject to customary adjustments). Fronti is a specialist in engineering, machining and welding for the cryogenic and gas industries, and also supplies new build pressure vessels and performs repairs with certification to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code. With over 20 years of experience in liquefaction, heat exchangers and cold boxes, Fronti adds a known team to expand Chart’s cold box manufacturing capacity and capability, including work currently underway on Chart hydrogen and helium liquefiers. Given our continued demand for Big LNG, small-scale LNG and hydrogen/helium liquefaction, having more than one United States cold box fabrication facility (in addition to our New Iberia, Louisiana location) adds agility and capacity to further improve our delivery lead-times and be prepared for the anticipated increase in demand in the coming years.
The combination of Fronti’s vacuum cold box fabrication experience and its facility in a key geographic location for cryogenics immediately allows us to optimize our manufacturing under the “One Chart flex manufacturing” umbrella. This increases our under-roof cold box fabrication capabilities by approximately 25% as well as providing additional capacity for battery assembly, perlite cold box fabrication, and specialized vessel and skid fab capabilities to serve our global customers. We will also use this location for repair and services staging, as it is very convenient to our United States industrial gas customers’ installed base.
“The acquisition of Fronti brings another cryogenic industry partner into the Chart portfolio, expands our cold box manufacturing capability and capacity, and creates the foundation for our mid-Atlantic (Allentown, Pennsylvania) flexible manufacturing location,” stated Jill Evanko, Chart’s CEO and President. “We are also very excited to have Joe Fronti and the entire Fronti team continue with the business and work even closer with our existing teams on the heart and soul of LNG, hydrogen and helium liquefaction equipment.”
“It’s an honor to join the Chart family. We have been combining Fronti’s cryogenic fabrication skills and project capabilities for over 50 years and are excited to continue to take our helium and hydrogen liquefaction work to the next level as a part of Chart,” stated Joe Fronti, President of Fronti Fabrications. “I look forward to not only continuing to grow our cold box project base but also having our Allentown, Pennsylvania location become a key part of Chart’s flexible manufacturing footprint.”