This week’s major manufacturing acquisition news came from energy technology company GE Vernova, which has agreed to acquire high-voltage grid equipment maker Trench Group. Elsewhere, Nvidia and Siemens provided an update on their partnership in industrial AI. In this edition of It's Just Business, we've rounded up four recent deals in battery manufacturing, pallet manufacturing, and more.  

Acquisition: UFP Industries, a diversified manufacturer serving retail, construction and industrial markets, acquired Apache Products’ operating assets and real estate for approximately $27 million. The acquisition expands UFP Packaging’s pallet manufacturing capacity along the Gulf Coast. Apache manufactures stringer and heat-treated pallets in Silsbee, Texas. The acquisition adds approximately $55 million in annual sales and 165 employees to UFP’s PalletOne network. 

Acquisition: GE Vernova, a global energy company operating in Power, Electrification and Wind, has agreed to acquire Trench Group for approximately $9 billion, expanding its high-voltage grid equipment manufacturing capabilities and Electrification business. Trench Group manufactures high-voltage components, including bushings, cable terminations, instrument transformers, coils and capacitors, operating 11 factories across eight countries and employing more than 3,000 people. 

Partnership: Siemens and NVIDIA are advancing industrial artificial intelligence through applications that combine AI, digital twins and manufacturing software to improve production planning, engineering and factory operations. Specifically, they have built AI agents that combine Siemens electronic design automation tools and Nvidia infrastructure; Siemnes provides electrical distribution, protection, automation and controls to Nvidia AI factory architecture; and both companies create interoperable simulation software. Siemens manufactures power electronics and automation technology for industry and infrastructure, serving machine tools, battery production, and process and discrete manufacturing, while NVIDIA supplies AI, simulation and accelerated computing technologies. 

Partnership: Argonne National Laboratory is joining Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Laboratory of the Rockies in the U.S. Department of Energy's Battery Manufacturing Accelerator, a consortium designed to accelerate the transition of battery innovations from research to domestic manufacturing while lowering production costs and strengthening U.S. competitiveness. The initiative combines super intelligence (SI), materials science and advanced manufacturing to improve battery manufacturing processes, develop autonomous pilot lines and support production of energy storage technologies using more abundant domestic materials, with university and industry partners helping validate commercially viable processes.