Japan’s leading diversified materials company Nitto Denko Corporation (Nitto Denko) and Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. (MRC), leading manufacturer of speciality chemicals, have reached a basic agreement to jointly establish a company for conducting R&D of water treatment membranes technology, the companies announced today.  The move this time is an initial step envisaging a possible future consolidation of the two parties’ water treatment businesses, they said.

The joint venture company, to be named Kathyd Technology, will conduct development work in the fields of seawater desalination and wastewater recycling & reuse with much future growth potential.  Anticipated are new, state-of-the-art competitive products for the world market leveraging the technological synergy of Nitto Denko and MRC, the companies noted.

The word “Kathyd” in the JV’s name derives from the combination of classical Greek words for “clear and pure” and “water”, according to the parents’ explanation.

Through its development work, Kathyd is expected to contribute ¥10 billion to the aggregate sales revenue of the parent companies by the fifth year of operation, they added.