SICK and Endress+Hauser to join forces in process automation

German sensor company SICK and Swiss measurement and automation technology specialist Endress+Hauser have signed a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership. By bundling their strengths, the companies say they are striving to provide better support for their customers in important areas such as energy and resource efficiency and protection of the climate and environment.

The goal of the partnership is to expand the Endress+Hauser product range with process analysis and gas flow measurement engineering from SICK. The two companies intend to establish a joint venture for the production and further development of SICK process technology. The sales and service teams of SICK’s process automation business segment will become part of Endress+Hauser’s global sales network. In total, this segment currently employs more than 1400 people in 28 countries and generates more than €350 million in sales annually.

The companies say the process technology offerings from both complement each other. The process analysis and gas flow measurement engineering from SICK — for emissions monitoring in flue gas cleaning processes or for gas flow measurements, for example — are employed particularly in waste incineration facilities, at power, steel and cement plants, in the oil and gas industry, in chemical and petrochemical production and in the marine sector. In the past, the companies have frequently worked together on an order, project and customer basis.

Both shareholder families, as well as the respective supervisory bodies of SICK and Endress+Hauser, are backing the planned strategic partnership. Using the memorandum of understanding as a foundation, experts from both companies are now conducting due diligence to determine how the collaboration can be accomplished and brought to fruition. The contract is expected to be signed before the end of the first quarter of 2024, while closing of the transaction is scheduled for the middle of next year.

“Our strategic partnership is about mutual benefits at many levels,” said Matthias Altendorf, CEO of the Endress+Hauser Group. “We want to seize shared opportunities by bundling our strengths. Because SICK and Endress+Hauser are already highly successful companies on their own, we are acting from a position of strength. We are convinced that together we will be even more successful, and by working cooperatively, we can support our customers even better and accompany them in the sustainable transformation of the process industry.”

Dr Mats Gökstorp, Chairman of the Executive Board at SICK, said: “Through this strategic partnership, Endress+Hauser and SICK will break new ground. The impulse and source of momentum for this undertaking is the dynamic market environment for process automation, produced by the progressive decarbonisation of industry. By working together, we can better capitalise on these excellent opportunities, while also developing the best solutions for and with our customers.”