Global Industrial Control Giant Honeywell Makes a Heavyweight Acquisition! Ready to Compete with Siemens and Emerson Again!

American industrial giant Honeywell recently announced the completion of the acquisition of Nexceris' Li-ion Tamer business. This transaction not only marks its technological enhancement in the field of lithium battery safety but also reveals the strategic shift of global industrial giants in the new energy revolution. As a leader in global very early gas detection technology, Li-ion Tamer's more than 30 patents will form a technological synergy with Honeywell's existing VESDA aspirating smoke detection system, building a safety protection network covering the entire life cycle of batteries.

 

The transaction is expected to have a positive impact on Honeywell's financial report immediately, which echoes the series of strategic restructurings initiated by the company since the end of 2023. After completing the spin-off of its aerospace and high-performance materials businesses, this century-old industrial giant is focusing its resources on high-growth areas such as automation and energy transformation through a dual-track strategy of "acquisition + divestiture". It is worth noting that this acquisition is the sixth one completed by Honeywell in the past six months, with a cumulative transaction value of 13.5 billion US dollars.

Giants in Turmoil: The Acquisition Competition Among Industrial Giants
While Honeywell is building a battery safety empire, its competitors are also conducting multi-dimensional technology mergers and acquisitions. Siemens acquired Altair Engineering for 10.6 billion US dollars, integrating simulation technology into its intelligent manufacturing system; Emerson supplemented the shortcomings of process industrial software by increasing its shareholding in AspenTech; Johnson Controls strengthened its leading position in the field of building automation through multiple acquisitions.

This wave of technology mergers and acquisitions presents three major characteristics: First, vertical integration is accelerating, such as Honeywell integrating gas detection and fire protection systems; Second, the trend of software defining hardware is obvious. After Siemens acquired Altair, its digital twin technology has been applied to battery production line optimization; Third, the concept of environmental protection has penetrated into technical standards. After Siemens acquired Danfoss' fire protection system, its high-pressure water mist fire extinguishing technology has obtained EU environmental certification due to its zero ozone layer destruction characteristics.

Technology Synergy Effect: From Early Warning to System Solutions
After acquiring Li-ion Tamer, Honeywell's product matrix has formed a three-level protection system: very early gas detection (Li-ion Tamer) + early smoke detection (VESDA) + intelligent interconnected management platform (CLSS). This combination, in the actual test of Microsoft Azure data center, compressed the fire response time from the traditional 15 minutes to within 3 minutes.

A deeper strategic value lies in the accumulation of data assets. Through hundreds of thousands of detection nodes connected by the CLSS platform, Honeywell is building the world's largest battery safety database. These real-time operation data can not only be used to optimize detection algorithms but also provide precious samples for battery manufacturers' research on thermal runaway mechanisms. On the eve of the commercialization of solid-state batteries, this data barrier will become an important competitive chip.

Industry Shuffle: Safety Technology Defines New Standards
With the implementation of the new EU Battery Law, all energy storage batteries sold in Europe must be equipped with very early warning systems from 2030 onwards. Through this acquisition, Honeywell has already locked in long-term orders from European customers such as Volkswagen and Fluence. Its competitors are adopting differentiated strategies: Siemens focuses on environmental protection fire extinguishing systems, Emerson focuses on data analysis in process industries, and Johnson Controls deeply cultivates fire integration in building scenarios.

This technology competition is reshaping the industry pattern. According to CIConsulting's prediction, by 2027, the cost of energy storage systems with intelligent monitoring functions will decrease by 40%, while solutions relying solely on physical protection may face elimination. In the bidding for CATL's German factory, Honeywell's solution successfully won the bid despite a 20% higher price because it integrates gas detection and fire linkage functions, which indicates that safety technology is creating new premium space.

Spin-off and Focus: The Transformation Code of Century-old Giants

This acquisition coincides with Honeywell's launch of the largest business restructuring in its history. After spinning off its aerospace and high-performance materials businesses, the company will form three independent listed companies. This "slimming" strategy enables it to concentrate resources on high-growth areas such as intelligent buildings and industrial automation. It is worth noting that the companies acquired by Honeywell, such as Sundyne Pumps and CAES Systems, are highly synergistic with strategic markets such as new energy and LNG.

This strategic focus has already shown results. In the first quarter of 2025, the order volume of Honeywell's Intelligent Buildings Group increased by 27% year-on-year, with battery safety-related businesses contributing 43% of the growth. After the spin-off, the total valuation of the three new companies is expected to increase by 35% compared with the current level, which confirms the capital logic of "focus creates value".

In this transformation competition among industrial giants, Honeywell is building a safety protection system covering the entire life cycle of batteries through precise technology mergers and acquisitions and business restructuring. As the global energy transformation enters a deep-water zone, enterprises that can provide systematic solutions will eventually gain the power to define industry standards in the hundreds of billions market. This silent technological revolution may have a more profound impact on the future of the new energy industry than the breakthrough in battery energy density.