A heating, ventilation and air-conditioning manufacturer has bought a majority stake in a rival firm.

Privately-owned Wozair, headquartered in Gillingham, has taken a shareholding in Veotec, an international maker of air separation and filtration products.

Wozair, which had a turnover of £39 million in 2016, has operations in Europe, Singapore, Dubai, Korea, USA and Australia.

Owners Paul Azzopardi and Simon Collins welcomed staff at Hampshire-based Veotec into the group highlighting the “considerable product range, design expertise, manufacturing capability and intellectual property”.

In a letter to clients and suppliers, Phil Pendrill and Andrew Russell, directors of Veotec, said: “The purchase is very positive and a major milestone in the growth of the Veotec businesses.

“The 10 years of product and manufacturing technology development, testing and certification is a great platform for us to continually develop the industry’s most advanced range of HVAC [heating, ventilation and air-conditioning] equipment for specialist applications.”