Mitsui Babcock, the Crawley-based power station equipment company with 4,000 staff worldwide, has been acquired by Doosan Heavy Industries of South Korea for £89m. 'By bringing Mitsui Babcock under the umbrella of Doosan, which is already known as a world-class boiler manufacturer, Doosan expects to be able to compete more effectively with the other leading companies making use of advanced technologies in the global coal-fired thermal power generation market,' the firm said in a statement. 'Through this acquisition, we will strengthen the diversification of Doosan's overseas operations, which are now concentrated in the Middle East and Asia, and thereby enhance Doosan's presence in developed markets including the United States and Europe,' said Doosan's executive vice president Park Gee-Won.