 In 1998, they acquired General Electric’s domestic compressor motor business, as well as the electric motor division of Magnetek.By the end of the decade, Water Products Company had bought out its joint venture partner in Asia, and had opened a plant in Nanjing, China.In the 2000s, A. O. Smith made a number of acquisitions, by acquiring State Industries, Inc., and its subsidiary APCOM Inc., Shenzhen Speeda Industrial Co. Ltd., and Athens Products, a supplier of hermetic motors for scroll compressor applications, as well as The Changheng Group of Changzhou, China, a manufacturer of fractional horsepower motors for HVAC applications, Taicang Special Motor Company, Ltd., of Suzhou, China, Yueyang Zhongmin Special Electrical Machinery Co. Ltd., Lochinvar Corporation, a manufacturer of high efficiency condensing boilers for hot water and hydronic heating applications, and in 2006, GSW Inc. a water heaters manufacturer for the Canadian market, and The American Water Heater Company, the exclusive supplier of water heaters to Lowe's, carrying the Whirlpool brand.