The most recent round of acquisitions in the industrial sector offers a look at some of the fastest growing segments. This starts with Honeywell’s acquisition of Nextnine, a leading provider of industrial cyber security solutions. The business will be integrated into Honeywell’s Industrial Cyber Security group as part of the company’s growing support of industrial control system protection.
Nextnine capabilities will allow Honeywell to deliver more scalable and flexible solutions for use throughout the enterprise. This translates to better security and compliance in the management of assets and inventory, as well as enhanced monitoring capabilities when integrated with Honeywell’s current Risk Manager and Advanced Threat Intelligence Exchange (ATIX) platforms.
Cott Beverages, a contract manufacturer, recently announced that it has been sold to Refresco for $1.25 billion. For over 60 years Cott Beverages has specialized in private-label products, producing multiple types of beverages in a variety of packaging formats and sizes, including carbonated soft drinks, juice and juice-based products, energy drinks, sparkling flavored waters, sports drinks, ready-to-drink teas, freezables, and ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages.
The company generates approximately $1.7 billion in annual revenues. Refresco is seizing on the opportunity to grow its North American retail presence and create a stronger contract manufacturing footprint. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2017.
In New Jersey, Innophos Holdings announced its acquisition of Novel Ingredients, a provider of dietary supplement ingredients. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Innophos will acquire Novel for $125 million – essentially quadrupling the company’s annual revenues.
Innophos sees the acquisition as a way to grow their presence in the nutritional ingredient marketplace. The company currently generates annual revenues of nearly $100 million by focusing on immune health, sports nutrition, and cognitive health products. This encompasses botanicals, proteins, amino acids, and other ingredients.
Insights
Cybersecurity, food and beverage manufacturing, and dietary health ingredients all represent growing markets in the U.S. and abroad. With connected equipment and the commensurate data solutions expanding their plant floor presence, the need for reliable, enterprise-wide security tools continue to grow. This Honeywell acquisition broadens their ability to work with more manufacturers at an even deeper level.
The growth of private labels, especially at the retail level, continues to grow as consumers look for quality substitutes at a lower price. Acquiring Cott allows Refresco to simultaneously expand its manufacturing capabilities and industry footprint.
The aging of the baby boomer generation and popularity of products aimed at helping this demographic feel healthier will continue to follow the same incline. Innophos’ ability to acquire a company with complimentary offerings will allow it to leverage this trend while growing its customer base and product line.