3M will shell out $1 billion to acquire the filtration business of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Polypore International.
 
The price tag represents one of the Maplewood-based company’s largest transactions in years. Polypore’s $210 million in sales last year should bolster the bottom line, while its products should complement 3M’s own filtration segment.
 
“Polypore’s (filtration products are) an outstanding business that will expand our opportunities in many large and attractive segments,” CEO Inge Thulin said in a statement. “The acquisition of this ultrafiltration membrane technology will enhance 3M’s core filtration platform and help generate new growth opportunities across the company.”
 
Last year, 3M said it would consider large acquisitions in the future and planned to spend $5 billion to $10 billion between 2013 and 2017, according to the Star Tribune, and hinted that several transactions over the $1 billion mark could be announced in the future.
 
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is part of a broader transaction in which the Tokyo-based chemical company Asahi Kasei’s will acquire Polypore’s energy storage business.
 
3M’s last quarter saw it beat profit expectations, but it fell short of analysts’ revenue estimates. Last week, the company was praised as one of the world’s most admired companies in Fortune magazine’s annual list.