Carrier completes divestiture plans

USA: With the sale of Carrier Commercial Refrigeration set to be completed in Q3, Carrier has now agreed the sale of its Commercial and Residential Fire business for $3bn.

Following its purchase of the German heating equipment manufacturer Viessmann last year, Carrier announced plans to exit its Commercial Refrigeration business, along with its Fire & Security interests. That process has now been completed.

The latest agreement to sell its Commercial and Residential Fire business to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds has enabled Carrier to reduce its net debt by over $5bn. 

At the time of the €12bn Viessmann purchase, Carrier CEO David Gitlin said that the acquisition and its planned exit of Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration would further simplify Carrier’s business portfolio and accelerate its strategy to establish Carrier as the global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions. 

In June, Carrier completed the sale of its security business, Global Access Solutions, to Honeywell for an enterprise value of $4.95bn. This was followed in July with the sale of its Industrial Fire business to Sentinel Capital Partners for $1.425bn.

The $775m sale of Carrier Commercial Refrigeration to Chinese manufacturer Haier was announced at the end of last year. That deal is now expected to be completed around the end of Q3.

Following the latest announcement, David Gitlin commented: “We now have executed deals on all our divestitures, all signed within about a year of announcement, with a combined value of over $10bn, representing a mid-teens EBITDA multiple in aggregate. This reflects tremendous dedication by so many, and I could not be more appreciative of our team’s tireless efforts and great work.”