WesTech Engineering, Inc. and Swire Announce Signing of Membership Interest Purchase Agreement

WesTech Engineering, Inc., an employee-owned company, and JS&S (Water Holdings) Inc., a subsidiary of John Swire & Sons Limited ("Swire"), are pleased to announce they have signed a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement (MIPA) for the sale of WesTech to Swire. Terms of the MIPA are confidential and the offer is subject to shareholder approval.

WesTech Engineering, Inc. provides process solutions and services for water and wastewater treatment, liquids/solids separation, and biological treatment needs in municipal, industrial, and minerals markets worldwide.

Swire is a highly diversified global group headquartered in the UK with activities in property development, beverages and food chain, aviation, marine services and other trading and industrial interests. In the water sector, Swire also owns Purestream, a specialized water treatment company compatible to WesTech and together the two companies will be able to accelerate the deployment of their leading solutions.

"WesTech is an excellent company with a nearly five-decade history of delivering world-class equipment and solutions in the water treatment industry," said James Hughes-Hallett, Financial Director of John Swire & Sons. "This agreement will allow Swire to combine its existing resources with WesTech's capabilities, thereby accelerating our position in the water treatment market ? advancing Swire's commitment to sustainability and specifically the responsible use and management of water."

About WesTech

Founded in 1972, WesTech is an employee-owned company headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, with offices in Ames, Iowa and globally in Brazil, China, India, Italy, Peru and South Africa. With more than 500 employees, its core purpose is to provide process equipment and water technology solutions to benefit humanity.

About Swire (www.swire.com)

Swire is a highly diversified global group, with principal business activities grouped into five categories: Property, Aviation, Agribusiness & Food Chain, Marine Services and Trading & Industrial. Many of Swire's core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, traditionally centered on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Chinese mainland. Within Asia, Swire's activities come under the group's Hong Kong publicly quoted arm, Swire Pacific Limited. The Swire group's UK-based parent company, John Swire & Sons Limited, has a 55% shareholding in Swire Pacific, and also has major business interests in Australia, Papua New Guinea, East Africa, Sri Lanka, the USA and UK.

John Swire & Sons Limited is responsible for formulating and directing overall group strategy and provides a range of services including recruitment, employment, and training of staff for the group and its subsidiaries, which today employ over 133,000 people worldwide.