Honeywell International has inked a $5 billion deal to acquire Carrier Global’s security business, reports the Wall Street Journal, as the industrial giant embarks on a spending spree to bolster its portfolio.
The security business makes products including electronic locks for big companies, hotels and hospital chains. The acquisition is meant to help bulk up Honeywell’s Building Automation segment, whose customers include hospitals, airports, data centers and the like. It is part of a push by the Charlotte, N.C.-based company, which operates in industries ranging from aerospace to energy, to meet increasing demand for cloud-based products.
The deal was announced by the two companies Friday morning, confirming an earlier report by the Wall Street Journal. Carrier shares jumped more than 5% in premarket trading, while Honeywell stock remained unchanged.
Honeywell Chief Executive Vimal Kapur said in October that the company is focused on building its business around automation, aviation and the energy transition. Kapur, a longtime Honeywell executive, took over the CEO role from Darius Adamczyk in June.
The deal for the Carrier unit feeds Honeywell’s commitment to deploy at least $25 billion over the next three years toward mergers and acquisitions, as well as dividends, capital expenditures and share buybacks.
Honeywell, which operates a plant in Baton Rouge, has taken steps to expand its Capital Region facilities over the last few years. In 2021, the company announced it was expanding its Baton Rouge facility to double the production capacity of Solstice ze, a supermarket refrigerant, and last year, it opened a new plant: its first large-scale manufacturing site for medical propellent Solstice Air.
Honeywell International in October applied for about $7.3 million in Louisiana sales tax and payroll rebates tied to a $343 million expansion of its Geismar facility that is expected to support at least 30 new permanent jobs.
Read the full story from the Wall Street Journal.
