Acquisition increases global footprint

Complementary Technology Strengthens Honeywell’s Portfolio to Improve Industrial Plant Performance

See Walt Boyes' (ControlGlobal) comment

Honeywell has announced it has signed an agreement valued at approximately $142 million USD (approximately $145 million CAD) to acquire Matrikon Inc., a company specializing in software that helps industrial manufacturers operate their plants safely, reliably and efficiently. The acquisition will strengthen Honeywell’s position in the high-growth oil and gas and power value chains and increase its global footprint in key regions. The transaction is subject to approval by Matrikon’s shareowners.

Matrikon will be integrated into Honeywell Process Solutions, which is part of Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions business group.

“Our industrial customers want their plants to run well in any economy, and Matrikon’s products help do that,” said Norm Gilsdorf, president of Honeywell Process Solutions. “Combining Matrikon’s technology and expertise with Honeywell’s industrial platform expands our offering to help customers continue to improve plant performance. This is a great addition to our business.”

Matrikon will bring to Honeywell complementary applications that monitor oil and gas well performance and mining equipment, as well as supply chain solutions for mining. Matrikon’s cyber-security and alarm management solutions also align with Honeywell’s solutions for process safety and security.

Founded in 1988, Matrikon specializes in technology to manage production, optimize operations and monitor assets at industrial plants including oil and gas, refining, energy, power and mining companies. These products and solutions provide plant personnel actionable performance data to anticipate and correct problems, identify opportunities for improvement, share best practices and drive the action necessary to achieve and sustain operational objectives. Matrikon’s sales were approximately $80 million USD for the 12 month period ending in February 2010.

Nizar J. Somji, president and chief executive officer of Matrikon stated: “This combination is a tremendous opportunity for all Matrikon stakeholders, our shareowners, clients and employees. We believe that the path we embarked on with our next generation technology and our product and solution strategy blends well with Honeywell’s technology vision. This will enable our talented workforce to continue to realize global opportunities for large scale solution deployments and will provide the foundation to support our vision of long-term technology partnerships with customers.”

In addition, entities related to Nizar Somji, the president and CEO of Matrikon, have also granted an option to Honeywell to acquire their outstanding shares at a price of $4.50 CAD per share, exercisable at any time after July 12, 2010, until nine months from this date.