User:Kittsar-pra/draft

KSB is one of the world’s leading suppliers of pumps, valves and related systems for the transportation of liquids with its headquarters in Frankenthal, Germany. The Application Areas include building services, industry, water utilities, the energy sector and mining.The main products are centrifugal pumps, which account for 70% of the total revenue. More than 15,600 employees worldwide generate annual sales revenue of two billion Euros.

Foundation and development until 1945
With Johannes Klein’s invention of the boiler feed apparatus in 1871, he laid the foundation for KSB. With the support of Friedrich Schanzlin and Jakob Becker, he established the company “Frankenthaler Maschinen- und Armatur- Fabrik Klein, Schanzlin & Becker”. In 1887, KSB became a public limited company with Johannes Klein at its head.

The first subsidiary outside Germany was founded in Great Britain in 1896 under the direction of Jacob Klein, the younger brother.

Between 1924 and 1934, KSB acquired several other companies in Germany and established further subsidiaries in Europe. The first subsidiary in America – KSB Compañía Sudamericana de Bombas – was launched in Argentina in 1941.

Development after 1945
The foundation of a Pakistani subsidiary in 1953 was the beginning of operations in Asia.

In 1960, the nonprofit “KSB-Stiftung” (KSB-Foundation) was set up to encourage research in the natural sciences and support future specialists in the fields of technology, natural sciences and economics. Dr. Otto Klein-Kühborth, Jacob Klein’s adopted son, transferred a qualified majority holding of KSB’s share capital to the KSB Foundation in 1964.

In 1986, KSB acquired the French pump manufacturer Pompes Guinard S.A., Paris and the butterfly valve manufacturer Amri S.A., Paris in 1990. With the takeover of the US company GIW Industries Inc. in 1988, KSB entered the slurry pumps market.

In 1991, KSB acquired the “Hallesche Pumpenwerke GmbH”. The joint venture KSB Shanghai Pumps Ca. Ltd. in 1994 strengthened KSB’s position in the Chinese market. The acquisition of the Indian MIL Controls Ltd. followed in 1997. In 2003, KSB acquired not only the Dutch pump supplier DP industries B.V., but also the Spanish Bombas ITUR, S.A.. KSB set up Dalian KSB AMRI Valves Co. Ltd. in the Chinese foreign trade zone in 2004. After one year, KSB acquires the Brazilian company IVC S/A Indústria de Válvulas e Controles.

In 2008, KSB established joint ventures with two Asian companies: The German-Japanese cooperation Nikkiso-KSB GmbH and the German Chinese company Shanghai Electric-KSB Nuclear Pumps and Valves Co.