Bosch to become the largest in air conditioners at once with acquisition

German heating and air conditioning company Bosch is acquiring the air conditioning arm of Johnson Controls for 7.4 billion euros. At the same time, it is acquiring the Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning joint venture. Bosch thus gains a leading position in the sector.

'With this acquisition, we will achieve a global leading position in the promising HVAC market,' said Stefan Hartung, Chairman of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch HmbH. Bosch's sales in the HVAC market will almost double to about 9 billion euros with the acquisition. In that market, Bosch sees great opportunities, as the company expects the global HVAC market to grow by 40 percent by 2030.

Group at heating and cooling interface

Christian Fischer, Vice Chairman of the Executive Board, who is responsible for this acquisition: "Together with the newly acquired associates, we want to seize the enormous opportunities that the market offers for the further growth of this new unit. The acquired companies will become part of Bosch's core business - and this will benefit customers, installation partners and associates." He added, "We have proven several times in the past that we can successfully integrate brands, move them forward through investment, and strengthen them.

Bosch will integrate the acquired companies into its Home Comfort Group, which has also included Deventer-based Nefit since 2004. After the transaction, the new unit will employ more than 26,000 associates, which could have major economies of scale. Moreover, Bosch expects much from the complementary portfolio at the interface between heating and cooling.

Global player

"With this acquisition we improve our position, especially in the air conditioning field. In addition, we will be able to expand our heat pump business worldwide and achieve greater economies of scale," stated board member Frank Meyer. With the acquisition, Bosch aims to enter the US and Asian markets in particular and thus become a global player. In the U.S., for example, Bosch expects growth of more than 50 percent by the end of the decade, compared with 30 percent in Europe.

The acquisition has yet to be approved by antitrust authorities, but Bosch plans to complete the process within complete twelve months.