USFilter has completed the sale of its waterworks distribution business to National Waterworks Inc. for $620 million. National Waterworks Inc. is jointly owned by JPMorgan Partners, the private equity arm of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Thomas H. Lee Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm.

The sale furthers USFilter's strategic focus on growth opportunities within its expanding business base of water-wastewater equipment and services, and consumer and commercial businesses, the company said in a news release. The waterworks distribution business distributes third-party water infrastructure hardware items such as pipes, hydrants, valves and meters through more than 140 sales and service centers in the United States.

Total annual sales in 2001 were approximately $1.1 billion, according to USFilter, a subsidiary of Vivendi Environnement. The sale of the business brings Vivendi Environnement's year-to-date proceeds from the divestiture of non-core assets to approximately $1.3 billion -- in line with the company's stated target for 2002.