French company Schneider Electric, is the current front runner to bid for control of UK engineering company Ivensys with a reported bid of USD 5B. However GE, ABB and Emerson Electric are also said to be interested in buying Ivensys, which supplies control and safety systems to fossil fuel and nuclear power plants.
Mr Alex West, Associate Director of Process, Machinery & Instrumentation at analysts IHS, said that Ivensys “has long been viewed as a potential takeover target, with Emerson calling off initial talks regarding an acquisition in the first half of 2012.
“However, other industrial automation giants, including European firms ABB and Siemens as well as the U.S.-based General Electric, also have all reportedly made preliminary contact previously. With its offer, Schneider Electric has taken control of what could break out into a full-scale bidding war for IOM.”
He said while Ivensys has a presence in the energy controls and appliance market, and is a leading industrial software supplier, more than half of its business is from its industrial automation business segment. This includes measurement and instrumentation products, but primarily consists of control products, including distributed control systems (DCS) and process safety systems, and the company has a long-standing presence in the power, oil, gas and refining sectors.