ABB, Zurich, Switzerland, a power and automation technology group, has agreed to divest the Meyer Steel Structures business of Thomas & Betts for $600 million to Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRN), a U.S. industrial company headquartered in Dallas, TX.
ABB is divesting the steel structures business due to limited synergies with its core portfolio, the company said. The business serves North American utilities with engineered steel mono pole structures for power transmission & distribution. Headquartered in Memphis, TN, it employs more than 1,100 people and has four U.S.-based manufacturing facilities.
“This divestment is in line with our strategy for continuous portfolio optimization and reflects the limited synergies that the steel structures business has with our core business,” said ABB President and CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer.
The acquisition of Thomas & Betts doubled ABB’s addressable market for the low voltage products division to approximately $24 billion in North America and provided a broad range of leading brands and a unique distribution and logistics model.
ABB divested Thomas & Betts’ HVAC business earlier this year.
