Emerson bids $6.5bn to own AspenTech and grow in automation
6 November 2024 
Emerson Electric is offering $6.53bn for the 43% of the industrial software vendor AspenTech that it does not already own. Emerson acquired a 55% stake in AspenTech in 2022 and currently owns 57% of its shares. If the proposed new deal goes ahead, it would make AspenTech a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson, worth around $15.1bn.
“Since completing our initial investment in 2022, our partnership with AspenTech has been highly productive and advanced our capabilities in software-defined control,” says Emerson’s president and CEO, Lal Karsanbhai. “The strategic and operating success of our partnership with AspenTech over the last two years gives us confidence that the time is right to bring Emerson and AspenTech together. As one company, with shared priorities and investment, we will be even better positioned for growth, margin expansion and shareholder value creation.”
Emerson is aiming to create a global portfolio of “software-defined and hardware-advantaged” industrial automation technologies. If the proposed deal goes ahead, Karsanbhai says that Emerson will have created “a cohesive automation portfolio which strengthens our innovation leadership in the market and positions Emerson to deliver further growth, margin expansion and shareholder value creation”.
Emerson says that acquiring the whole of AspenTech would advance key initiatives, create new opportunities and accelerate its industrial software strategy, with benefits including:
- Accelerating software-defined control Developments over the past three years have proven the value and feasibility of software-defined control, it argues. A single integrated organisation would benefit Emerson as it designs seamless hardware plus software solutions for its customers.
- Enhancing alignment between the two businesses As a single company using the Emerson Management System, there will be opportunities for additional cost efficiencies. Commercially, the proposed transaction will drive greater alignment, collaboration and integration, allowing Emerson and AspenTech to invest, innovate and cross-sell more effectively, and drive further sales synergies.
- Strengthening the combined automation software offering As a single integrated business, Emerson will have a differentiated automation software business globally with software addressing the entire lifecycle of automating complex operations, from design and engineering, to production and asset optimisation.
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