Nitrex Unveils New Brand Identity

Montreal, Canada – May 12, 2020 – Nitrex, a Novacap portfolio company and the leading global provider of fully integrated heat-treating solutions and technologies, unveiled its new corporate brand identity today. This change comes at a time when the company is forging new paths, retooling its product portfolio to align it even more closely with customer needs and preferences, and seeking to present a more consistent look and feel across all brands. “In our 35-year history, Nitrex has evolved from a small family-run business operating in Canada to a global company with an extensive portfolio serving the whole heat treatment industry,” said Nitrex CEO Jean-Francois Cloutier.

“Our portfolio is built on proven science and technology to enhance material strength and optimize performance. The new brand identity we are sharing with you today,” he continued, “reflects our evolution as a market leader poised for the future, while reaffirming our tradition of innovation, reliability and quality as well as our customer-focused culture. The new unifying logo will represent the company as a whole, with all its business units. The modern, abstract design of the company’s iconic red, yellow and orange “N” symbol is now rendered as two monochromatic pillars, indicating that Nitrex rests on a solid foundation of science and technology. The pillars stand side by side and stretch out crosswise, evoking the centrality of heat treating as a mission-critical process in manufacturing,” added Cloutier.

The new symbol, shown above, will be adopted by all the Nitrex business units. The symbol also plays a functional role as the letter “N” in the Nitrex wordmark used by all business units. For now, the names of the legal entities will not change, so our customers, suppliers and stakeholders can continue to use the existing names and addresses in all official communication. The new wordmark for United Process Controls leverages its well-known trade name, the UPC initials, in combination with the company’s best-known brand asset, Marathon Monitors, to form UPC-Marathon. Also, worth noting is the incorporation of the “N” symbol as the final letterform in the new UPC-Marathon wordmark.

“The UPC-Marathon logo may be new and different, but it still speaks to our history and makes the link with the essence of our recognized brand. Operationally, nothing has changed: our mission is to be the best brand in process controls and automation worldwide. The new logo is a true reflection of our past and our future,” said Eric Jossart, VP Global Sales. “The rebranding unifies our group, while confirming our unique position in the market,” said Oliver Caurette, President, United Process Controls.

G-M Enterprises has also traded their metallic graphic for a sleek single-color wordmark using the same typeface as the other logos, with the addition of the tagline A Nitrex Company. “The new logo clearly defines the integration of G-M into Nitrex. As the newest addition to the Nitrex Turnkey Systems portfolio, G-M expands our offering in this category by bringing a new line of innovative vacuum heat treatment systems to our customers” said Iwo Korwin, President of NTS.

A new tagline: “The new tagline charts a bold course for Nitrex. It underscores our commitment to science and technology. By harnessing the latest advances, we will be able to reinvent the methods of strengthening metals and applications, to the greater benefit of our customers. “This marks the beginning of a new chapter for Nitrex and its affiliated companies, and we’re very excited to finally share it with you. Soon you will see the new logos on all our products and packaging, social media platforms, brochures, stationery and tradeshow booths as well as in our email signatures, and much else. Also, on the horizon is a new redesigned website with simplified messaging and a seamless visitor experience. The site will showcase the full suite of solutions, including turnkey heat-treating systems, heat treating services, and control and automation solutions,” said Nitrex CEO Jean-Francois Cloutier.

About NOVACAP: Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading Canadian private equity firm with $3.6 billion of assets under management. Its distinct investment approach, based on deep operational expertise and an active partnership with entrepreneurs, has helped accelerate growth and create long-term value for its numerous portfolio companies. With an experienced management team and substantial financial resources, Novacap is well-positioned to continue building world-class businesses. Backed by leading global institutional investors, Novacap’s deals typically include leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, add-on acquisitions, IPOs, and privatizations. Over the last 38 years, Novacap has invested in more than 90 companies and completed more than 130 add-on acquisitions. The company has offices in Toronto, Ontario and Brossard, Quebec. For more information, please visit www.novacap.ca.

About NITREX: NITREX is the lead provider of fully integrated heat-treating solutions and technologies globally. The company was founded in 1984 in Montreal, Canada and operates three business units – Nitrex Turnkey System (NTS) a leader of turnkey nitriding, nitrocarburizing and vacuum heat treat systems; Heat Treating Services (HTS) a worldwide network of commercial heat-treating service centers; and UPC, a leading provider of controls upgrade and automation solutions for heat treating and combustion. Nitrex serves its customers globally from 14 locations across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Poland, Italy, France, China, Japan and through a global network of representatives and licensees.  www.nitrex.com | www.group-upc.com | www.gmenterprises.com