Carrier looks to mergers and acquisitions
27th November 2018
USA: Mergers and acquisitions will be key parts of Carrier’s growth strategy after its spin-off from UTC, according to UTC chairman and CEO Gregory Hayes.
Speaking today after the announcement that UTC would spin of its CCS and Otis elevators businesses, Gregory Hayes said the move would allow each company to shape its own future.
The Climate, Controls & Security (CCS) will become known, simply, as Carrier. On its own, it is a leading global provider of HVAC, commercial refrigeration, transport refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies.
Hayes maintained that Carrier would be better positioned to pursue attractive M&A opportunities across its industry segments.
“M&A is going to be part of the growth strategy of both Carrier and Otis,” he said, but acknowledged that anti-trust approval in the HVAC sector would be a hurdle.
“Anti-trust approval is one of the biggest risks that we see in consolidation in HVAC,” he stated and revealed that after the 14 month anti-trust investigation of the Rockwell Collins deal, “where there was very little overlap”, it was hard for him to imagine how long it would take in the HVAC industry.
“There would have to be divestitures if there is going to be consolidation,” he said.
Hayes also recognised that being part of the UTC group, Carrier had not been free to make the investments that it might have done as an independent company.
“The one missing piece of our portfolio is a VRF in-house solution,” he admitted. “So, today, we partner with Toshiba Midea for that product. We could have made that investment ourselves 10 years ago but chose not to.”
Toshiba Carrier was formed in 1999 to capitalise on the VRF market. Toshiba Carrier formed a further joint venture with Chinese air conditioning manufacturer Midea in 2004.
Hayes also noted that Carrier was more than just an HVAC company: “It is a very strong refrigeration company with a leading market position in Europe. It’s a leading provider of refrigerated transport solutions as well as fire products and security products.”
