AAF International Moves to #1 Position in the Global Air Filtration Market With Flanders Acquisition

LOUISVILLE, KY--(Marketwired - May 2, 2016) -  American Air Filter Co., Inc. d/b/a AAF International (http://www.aafintl.com), has acquired Flanders Holdings LLC (Flanders), a leading air filter manufacturer in the United States. With this acquisition, Flanders' expertise in manufacturing air filtration products will be integrated into AAF International. The combination of AAF and Flanders will create the largest air filter company of its type in the North American and global air filtration markets.

"It's exciting to be a part of the air filtration industry right now. Almost everything we frequently take for granted in our modern world, including safe food, effective medicines, consumer electronics, the buildings we live and work in, even the cars we drive, all of these things create demand for high-performance air filtration," Philip Whitaker, AAF International's Chief Executive Officer, said.

"Our new company, doing business as AAF Flanders, will offer the most complete spectrum of air filtration products, ranging from furnace filters for homes, all the way up to high-tech filtration housings used by the most sophisticated of manufacturing operations," Whitaker continued. "We will be perfectly positioned to meet these growing demands for clean air."

As public awareness continues to grow regarding the critical importance of maintaining healthy Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), which refers to the air quality level inside of a building, so will the need for high-performance filtration solutions. Poor IAQ has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the top five most urgent environmental risks to public health. Lack of proper air filtration is the #1 cause of poor IAQ, according to the American Lung Association's State of the Air 2015 Report. This fact matters greatly, because according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the majority of Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors.

In addition to IAQ, air filters have a dramatic impact on a building's energy consumption and environmental impact. Therefore, the need for energy efficient and environmentally friendly air filtration solutions continues to increase. Approximately 50% of a building's energy consumption goes to the heating, cooling, and moving of air, according to the Department of Energy, and air filters play a major role in how much energy each HVAC system will consume. Up to 37% more energy is used by HVAC systems with dirty coils vs. clean coils, and air filters provide much needed protection for those coils. Air filtration is also a major component of green building design. Green buildings use on average 26% less energy, emit 33% less carbon dioxide, use 30% less indoor water, and send 50%-75% less solid waste to landfills and incinerators, according to the General Services Administration (GSA).

"This acquisition, our third in the last year, represents just another step in our journey to get closer to our customers and to satisfy all of their air filtration needs. Although this is our largest deal by far, it certainly won't be our last. We are committed to becoming the clear leader in our industry, not just in North America but also globally," Whitaker stated.

AAF International, based in Louisville, Kentucky, has more than 3,000 employees, 22 manufacturing facilities, and 5 R&D centers worldwide. AAF designs, develops, and manufactures air filtration solutions for commercial, industrial, cleanroom, transportation, and nuclear power applications. AAF also provides inlet air cooling and sound attenuation solutions for high-speed rotating machinery. For more information, visit http://www.aafintl.com.

Founded in 1950, Flanders designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes air filters and related products which are utilized by many industries, including commercial and residential heating, semiconductor manufacturing, ultra-pure materials, chemical, biological, radiological and material processing, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, synthetics, nuclear power and nuclear materials processing. Flanders also designs and manufactures production equipment to automate manufacturing processes.