Fayetteville water tech firm BlueInGreen sold to Georgia manufacturer for $20 million

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 1,963 views 

Georgia-based global manufacturer Chart Industries on Tuesday (Nov. 3) announced the completion of a deal to buy BlueInGreen LLC, an emerging technology company based in Fayetteville focusing on water and wastewater treatment. The all-stock deal is valued at $20 million, plus a potential earn-out of up to $6 million, according to a news release.

BlueInGreen provides an efficient method of dissolving oxygen, carbon dioxide and ozone into solution. University of Arkansas professors Scott Osborn and Marty Matlock, along with VIC Technology Venture Development, developed the company’s water treatment technology in 2004, intending to revolutionize how oxygen is used to treat water and wastewater.

Since 2016, the company has had a cumulative annual growth rate of at least 45% and continues to expand, with 2020 expected to be another record year. The company sold its 100th installation earlier this year.

BlueInGreen CEO Chris Milligan will continue to run the company as a standalone business in the Chart Industries portfolio. BlueInGreen will maintain its corporate headquarters in Fayetteville.

“We are thrilled to join Chart Industries’ portfolio of proven technologies and iconic brands,” Milligan said in a statement. “This partnership pairs BlueInGreen’s expertise with Chart’s global footprint, allowing for enhanced integration, increased response time and a more robust service fleet as we collectively bridge the gap between industrial gas and water markets.

“While we are far from our startup days, our services, our technology, our team and our mission at BlueInGreen have not changed. We will always be BIG. But with Chart’s wealth of knowledge, relationships and resources, BIG just got a lot bigger.”

Chart Industries, a public company, has over 25 global locations from the United States to Asia, Australia, India, Europe and South America. The company makes highly engineered equipment servicing multiple applications in the energy and industrial gas markets.

Chart Industries’ stock closed at $86.23 on Tuesday. Shares have traded between $15 and $91.98 the past 52 weeks.

Rogers law firm Smith Hurst advised BlueInGreen in the transaction.

For more details about the acquisition, click here.