Rockwell pays Ł110m for UK`s ICS Triplex
Rockwell Automation has emphasized its growing involvement in the process sector by buying the UK-based Industrial Control Services Group – which trades as ICS Triplex – for Ł110m in cash from its venture capital owner, Alchemy Partners, which bought the business for Ł1.7m in 2000. ICS supplies critical control and safety systems for applications in the process sector worldwide. In the fiscal year to the end of May, ICS achieved sales worth around Ł70m.
ICS Triplex, whose headquarters are in Maldon, Essex, employs more than 500 people and has operations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America. Its customers are mainly in oil and gas exploration, production, transportation and refining, as well as chemicals and power generation.
"With their industry expertise and strong customer relationships, ICS Triplex provides an important strategic fit for our rapidly expanding process control and safety solutions businesses," says Keith Nosbusch, Rockwell’s chairman and chief executive. "ICS customers in oil and gas and other process industries will benefit from the breadth of Rockwell Automation`s product portfolio and solutions capabilities. It also allows us to incorporate ICS`s high-availability, fault-tolerant technology into the Logix architecture, extending the reach of this technology into discrete and hybrid process applications."
When Alchemy acquired ICS Triplex in 2000, it paid 1p per share for the troubled company, then chaired by Control Techniques’ co-founder, Trevor Wheatley. ICS shares had plummeted since 1997 when they had hit a peak of 125p. Last year, Alchemy sold the Transmitton rail services division to Siemens.
The acquisition, one of Rockwell’s largest in recent years, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year. ICS Triplex will join Rockwell’s Control Products and Solutions operating segment.
