Schneider Electric to buy ASCO business of Vertiv

Vertiv, formerly Emerson Network Power, has announced plans to sell its ASCO business as it continues to sharpen its focus on the digital critical infrastructure space and its core business. The $1.25-billion sale to Schneider Electric allows Vertiv to apply additional resources toward business and technological advancements in its core data center, telecommunications and commercial and industrial markets.

As Vertiv has repositioned itself after being sold to Platinum Equity in November 2016, it became clear that ASCO’s strengths in the automatic transfer switch arena fell outside the new organization’s more focussed strategy, said Vertiv CEO Rob Johnson.

“This sale is a significant step forward in our evolution as the premier provider of digital critical infrastructure solutions,” Johnson said. He added, “This is consistent with our strategy of focussing on our customers and aligning the strengths of our organization – deep domain knowledge in IT and facilities applications, global scale and service coverage – to better meet their needs.”

Platinum Equity Partner Jacob Kotzubei praised Vertiv’s progress and said, “Thanks to strong leadership and the commitment of Vertiv employees around the world, the company is performing exceptionally well, and the transformation of the business is right on track,” said Kotzubei. “The sale of ASCO will further support those efforts and help Vertiv continue focussing on its core business. Given the amount of cash proceeds expected to be generated from the sale, we will evaluate a number of capital structure alternatives that would be beneficial to all stakeholders."

The sale price of $1.25 billion reflects a multiple of 11.7x adjusted EBITDA for CY2016. The sale is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close by Q4 2017.