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May News in Brief

01 May, 2009

♦  ABB is buying the Italian transformer components manufacturer Comen to expand its portfolio, especially of IEC components that it does not currently manufacture. Comen, located in Vicenza, employs about 400 people and generated revenues of more than $70m in 2008. It sells under its own name and the Elmek brand.

♦  The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce has approved an amendment that creates a federal rebate programme to provide incentives for buying Nema Premium high-efficiency motors. The amendment (similar to one adopted recently by the US Senate) approves $350m to provide rebates of $25 per horsepower for the motors, as well as a $5/hp rebate for disposing of inefficient, non-Nema Premium motors.

♦  Following its 2007 acquisitions of Hirschmann Automation & Control and Lumberg Automation, the cable-maker Belden has incorporated the Hirschmann and Belden CDT International businesses into one company, Belden Italia. The business will offer cables, networking systems and connectors.