Honeywell CEO Signals Automation M&A Appetite After Overhaul
Honeywell International Inc. is likely to become a buyer of industrial automation companies once executives have wrapped up their expansive push to spin off several units and simplify the conglomerate’s structure.
Speaking Oct. 23 after Charlotte-based Honeywell reported its third-quarter results, Chairman and CEO Vimal Kapur said his team’s focus for now remains on the intricate reorganization that will soon see the company spin out its advanced materials business as Solstice and then also separate Honeywell Aerospace next year. Completing those multibillion-dollar transactions will leave executives with three reorganized divisions: building automation, process automation and industrial automation.
That corporate realignment will have various business units move from today’s broader industrial automation group into the new process division. In addition, Kapur and his team are looking at possibly selling what they call their productivity solutions and services and warehouse solutions businesses. Should those sales happen, the future industrial automation segment will be clearly the smallest of Honeywell’s three divisions.
But likely not for long.
Asked about that size discrepancy, Kapur his team will look for opportunities to grow industrial automation in addition to improving its organic sales growth rate.
Kapur added that he’s looking for the new industrial automation group to be focused more on products than services, with sensors—for use in aerospace and medical devices, for instance—being a prominent product set. The group’s other offerings will include utilities devices, industrial burners, heat exchangers and more.
“These are related to compliance. These products are certified,” Kapur said. “That’s a fundamental model we’re really working towards. And we also are conscious that [industrial automation] would also become a pivot towards our U.S. onshoring growth.”
Honeywell posted a net third-quarter profit of $1.86 billion on sales of $10.41 billion, numbers that were up from $1.41 billion and $9.73 billion, respectively, in the same period of 2024. Within that, the current iteration of its industrial automation division produced a segment profit of $428 million (down from $508 million) on revenues of $2.27 billion (down from $2.50 billion).
Shares of the company (Ticker: HON) were changing hands around $216 on the morning of Oct. 24. Over the past six months, they have risen about 7%, which has grown the company’s market capitalization to about $137 billion.
About the Author
Geert De Lombaerde
Senior Editor
A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde has been in business journalism since the mid-1990s and writes about public companies, markets and economic trends for Endeavor Business Media publications, focusing on IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal, T&D World and Healthcare Innovation. He also curates the twice-monthly Market Moves Strategy newsletter that showcases Endeavor stories on strategy, leadership and investment and contributes to other Market Moves newsletters.
With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati in 1997, initially covering retail and the courts before shifting to banking, insurance and investing. He later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal before being named editor of the Nashville Post in early 2008. He led a team that helped grow the Post's online traffic more than fivefold before joining Endeavor in September 2021.