UK: Italian commercial air conditioning and refrigeration manufacturer Climaveneta is to acquire a majority stake in its England and Wales distributor Powermaster Products, together with the majority of its service organisation Powermaster Service. The move follows the acquisition of the chiller distribution and service activities of Climate Equipment from the Walter Meier Group in 2011.

USA: Bitzer is expanding its operations in the USA, moving its scroll compressor factory in Syracuse to larger premises and building a new plant adjacent to its existing facility in Oakwood, Ga.

AUSTRALIA: THE Australian government has been warned that the impending imposition of a carbon tax, pushing refrigerant prices up by around 300-500%, will have a substantial impact on small businesses, jeopardises safety and risks creating a black market.

REFRIGERANT producer Honeywell has appealed against a European Patent Office (EPO) decision to revoke one its patents on HFO-1234yf. The patent covered the use of certain compounds, including 1234yf, as refrigerants in automotive air conditioning systems.

TOSHIBA Air Conditioning has expanding its UK distributor network with the appointment of Harpenden-based Dysk Air Conditioning.

WHILE overall UK air conditioning sales remain flat or only slightly up, nationwide wholesaler Climate Center claims growth of some 30% compared with last year.

AREA, the European air conditioning and refrigeration contractors association, has re-elected Graeme Fox as president for the next two years. Other board members saw their mandate renewed for another two years, except Gerhard Neuhauser, past president of AREA, who has had to step down due to professional reasons.

KLIMA-THERM, the South-London-based company which has pioneered trials of the new HFO refrigerants in chillers, is set to claim another first with a chiller using Danfoss's super-efficient oil-less Turbocor compressor and HFO1234ze.

OVER 60% of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration businesses in Australia's Northern Territories are reported to be breaching transportation of flammable gas regulations.

A DEFECTIVE refrigerator has been blamed for putting a group of Swiss firefighters in the embarrassing position of having to tackle a massive fire at their own fire station.