Honeywell to buy defense electronics maker CAES in $1.9 billion deal – Breaking Defense

Air Warfare, Land Warfare

Vimal Kapur, chief executive officer of Honeywell International Inc., during a Bloomberg Television interview in London, UK, on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Honeywell named Kapur to take on the added role of chairman when Darius Adamczyk retires later this year. Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg via Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Honeywell announced today it has initiated an acquisition of defense electronics maker CAES Systems Holdings in a $1.9 billion all-cash deal.

The acquisition will bolster Honeywell’s current scope of work on platforms like the F-35, EA-18 Growler, AMRAAM air-to-air missile and GMLERS guided missiles, as well as expand Honeywell’s portfolio to add work on the SPY-6 naval radar, drone and counter-drone technologies, the company said.

The projected growth for those programs are expected to create a “favorable tailwind” for revenue growth at Honeywell’s aerospace technologies business unit, Honeywell stated in a news release. It added that the acquisition affords Honeywell the opportunity to boost international sales with solutions that combine the output of both firms.

CAES, which is based in Virginia, specializes in antennas, radio frequency (RF) technologies and signal management capabilities that are used to build electronic warfare systems, missiles and radar. The company is currently owned by private equity firm Advent International.

“With the integration of CAES’ solutions and capabilities, we will fortify our existing defense offerings, while also expanding our capabilities in pivotal areas like RF, radar and sensing technologies, to ensure a market-leading position in areas that are critical for global security,” said Vimal Kapur, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell.

The acquisition of CAES, formerly known as Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions, is expected to add about 2,200 employees, with Honeywell touting the company’s “deep bench of RF engineering talent” and “highly automated manufacturing facilities.” The electronics company has 13 facilities in North America.

“As a trusted supplier and mission partner to our customers across advanced RF capabilities, I couldn’t be more excited to see CAES join the Honeywell team and work together to build on the outstanding expertise of both companies,” said CAES chief executive Mike Kahn in the announcement.

Honeywell said the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024, subject to regulatory approval.

The CAES buy would be the third proposed acquisition from Honeywell this year, following its announced bid in March to purchase Civitanavi Systems S.p.A., which makes precision navigation and timing solutions. It completed a $4.95 billion acquisition of Carrier Global Corporation’s global access solutions business earlier this month.