DONE DEAL: Bosch Acquisition of Johnson Controls/Hitachi is Finalized

ARTICLE FROM PRESS RELEASE

STUTTGART, Germany, July 31— The Bosch Group announced the completion of its acquisition of the residential and light commercial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) business from Johnson Controls and the acquisition of the Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning joint venture. The purchase was announced about one year ago. The purchase price of $8 billion U.S. dollars is subject to customary adjustments.

“With the largest acquisition in our company history, we are accelerating our growth, expanding our global footprint, and balancing our business by strengthening our energy and building technology — this makes Bosch more powerful and robust, in line with our corporate strategy 2030,” says Stefan Hartung, chairman of the Bosch board of management.

In the above photo, a Bosch employee conducts tests on an RTU.

With the acquisition, the Bosch Home Comfort division almost doubles in size to over 25,000 associates and more than $8.6 billion in sales. Bosch has now expanded its presence, especially in America and Asia, and is one of the largest suppliers in the market for heating, ventilation, and cooling of residential and small commercial buildings worldwide. In the U.S., Bosch will add approximately 3,400 associates and two new manufacturing sites located in Norman, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas.

With the new lineup, Home Comfort wants to grow significantly faster than the global HVAC market. According to Bosch estimates, this will increase by up to 5% every year until 2030.

“Bosch wants to be one of the leading companies in each of its industries by 2030 and is expanding its business with strategic investments in growth areas, among other things. Acquisitions are also part of the strategy,” says Christian Fischer, deputy chairman of the board of management and responsible for strategic growth initiatives and portfolio management. “The current acquisition perfectly complements our portfolio. We can now offer our customers the entire range of HVAC technologies – from a single source and worldwide.”

The acquisition also includes strategically important company investments and joint venture interests, among other things, in component manufacturers and sales partners. These investments are expected to make a significant contribution to the financial result of Home Comfort in the future. With its expanded product and brand portfolio, Home Comfort wants to better leverage the potential of its strong and established sales channels and boost sales. Integrated purchasing and the joint development of product platforms should also ensure cost savings. It is hoped that initial successes will be seen as early as 2026. The company can rely on strong brands for this: in addition to Bosch and Buderus, these now also include YORK in the USA and Hitachi in Asia, as well as other strong local brands. The company is acquiring long-term licenses to use the brand names for YORK and Hitachi.

The global production network of Home Comfort will grow from 17 to 33 plants as a result of the acquisition, while the number of development sites is increasing from 14 to 26. The completion of the transaction marks the beginning of the integration of the new units into the Home Comfort division at Bosch. Sources reported this should be completed by the end of 2027.