nVent to Sell Thermal Management Business for $1.7B
nVent Electric plc, a London-based company with a management office in St. Louis Park, says it’s selling its thermal management business for $1.7 billion.
On Thursday, nVent announced that it reached a deal to sell the business unit to Canadian investor Brookfield Asset Management in an all-cash transaction. The unit sells an array of products designed to regulate heating and cooling in commercial, industrial, and residential buildings; its offerings include things like pipe freeze protection, tank heating, floor heating, and more. nVent sells the products under the Raychem and Tracer brands.
The company’s thermal management business employs 1,700 people, and, in 2023, the unit generated $595 million for nVent. That makes it the smallest of nVent’s three main business segments, according to the company’s 2023 year-end report. The company’s two other main business units – electrical and fastening solutions and enclosures – each pulled in more than $1 billion in sales last year.
In last year’s fourth quarter, sales for nVent’s thermal management declined 1%.
The business unit’s workforce is spread out in offices around the globe, including in Minnesota. The long-term effect of the transaction on those employees isn’t yet clear, but, in an email, an nVent spokesperson said that there will be “no immediate impact on any of Thermal Management’s operations as a result of this announcement.”
Though nVent has announced seven acquisitions since it went public in 2018, the latest deal would be the company’s first divestiture.
In a news release, nVent chair and CEO Beth Wozniak said that selling the thermal management business is “consistent with our strategy.”
“The sale represents a significant step to nVent becoming a higher growth and more focused electrical connection and protection leader, well positioned with the megatrends of electrification, sustainability, and digitalization,” she said.
The sale is expected to close in early 2025, according to nVent.
nVent’s sale of the thermal management business isn’t entirely surprising; as early as May, Bloomberg reported that the company was considering selling its Raychem cable business.
Meanwhile, in June, nVent reached a deal to buy Wisconsin-based prefabricated steel manufacturer Trachte for $695 million.
