ABB Ltd. (VTX:ABBN) announced a deal to acquire Austria-based industrial automation firm B&R.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ABB said that the acquisition will allow it to seize growth opportunities resulting from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.B&R focuses on a product- and software-based, open-architecture solutions for machine and factory automation. Headquartered in Eggelsberg, Austria, the company employs more than 3,000 people, including about 1,000 R&D and application engineers.
ABB believes that the combination of B&R’s software and solutions for modern machine and factory automation with ABB’s products in robotics, process automation, digitalization, and electrification “will result in an unmatched, comprehensive offering for customers of industrial automation.”
“B&R is a gem in the world of machine and factory automation and this combination is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This transaction marks a true milestone for ABB, as B&R will close the historic gap within ABB’s automation offering. This is a perfect fit and will make us the only industrial automation provider offering customers the entire spectrum of technology and software solutions around measurement, control, actuation, robotics, digitalization, and electrification,” ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer said in a statement.
“This acquisition perfectly delivers on our Next Level strategy. With our unique digital offering and our installed base of more than 70 million connected devices, 70,000 control systems and now more than 3 million automated machines and 27,000 factory installations around the world, we enable our combined global customer base to seize the huge opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Spiesshofer added.
On closing of the transaction, B&R will become part of ABB’s Industrial Automation division as a new global business unit called Machine & Factory Automation, ABB said. The new business will be led by the current Managing Director Hans Wimmer.
The transaction is expected to close in summer 2017, subject to customary regulatory clearances.
ABB said that it will finance the acquisition in cash.
Shares of ABB Ltd. (VTX:ABBN) are up over 8% year-to-date. The stock has surged 26.71% during the last 12 months.