ITT agrees to purchase SPX FLOW for $4.8 billion

ITT Inc. announced December 5 it had agreed to purchase SPX Flow from Lone Star Funds for $4.775 billion in cash and equity. The purchase unites ITT, a Stamford, Connecticut-based company that produces specialized industrial process, motion technologies and control components, with SPX Flow’s Charlotte, North Carolina-based flow and process component company serving food and beverage as well as energy and industrial markets. According to a joint statement, the purchase is intended to strengthen ITT’s offerings for industrial, chemical and energy markets, as well as diversifying its business with adjacent moves into health and nutrition.

At press time, SPX Flow employs 3,800 employees, while ITT has approximately 11,000, according to its LinkedIn page. SPX Flow will join the company as part of its industrial process division. The two companies estimate the purchase will generate $80 million in savings from cost synergies within three years.

The deal fits into ITT’s five-year plan, according to a company statement. The plan calls for new mergers and acquisitions with an eye towards reshaping ITT’s portfolio.

In a statement, ITT CEO Luca Savi said the purchase builds on ITT’s core strengths as well as adjacent markets and fits well culturally with ITT. Marc Michael, CEO of SPX Flow, said ITT’s industrial process was a good fit for his company’s capabilities.

What people are saying

“The acquisition of SPX FLOW checks all the boxes. It builds on our core strength in highly engineered components, brings adjacent technologies to the core, expands our total addressable market, it is well run and to top it off is an outstanding cultural fit. The addition of SPX FLOW’s world-class, critical industrial equipment and flow technologies, including premier brands like Waukesha Cherry-Burrell, Lightnin and Bran+Luebbe, enhances our ability to address complex customer challenges at even greater scale,” said ITT CEO Luca Savi. “ITT’s playbook of differentiation in execution and innovation combined with SPX FLOW’s leading brands and engineering expertise creates significant opportunity for long-term value creation. On behalf of ITT, I am truly honored to partner with SPX FLOW’s talented team of approximately 3,800 employees to better serve and work hard for our customers and our shareholders,” said Luca Savi, ITT’s Chief Executive Officer and President.

“Joining ITT marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our company. ITT’s world-class Industrial Process businesses are a natural fit for SPX FLOW’s market-leading industrial, health, and nutrition brands.” said Marc Michael, President and CEO, SPX FLOW. “By leveraging our joint global capabilities, we can provide customers with the technology, engineering and operational capabilities to create innovative solutions for their process needs, resulting in exceptional business performance.”