PAS, now known as PAS Global, has succumbed to the acquisition trend having taken venture capital money to fund growth as it is acquired by Swedish company Hexagon AB. I figured it was but a matter of time a year ago that this was the end game, just as for the recent acquisition of OSIsoft by AVEVA.There remain a few other plums to be picked by larger companies, I believe.

The news from the Point of view of PAS:

PAS Global LLC (PAS) announced it has agreed to be acquired by Hexagon AB (Hexagon), a global supplier of sensor, software, and autonomous solutions.

With the combination of PAS and Hexagon, customers will benefit from a comprehensive software portfolio to manage the industrial lifecycle from plant design and maintenance, to real-time situation awareness in the control room, cybersecurity risk management, and industrial digital transformation. PAS also complements and significantly extends Hexagon’s global customer footprint in the process industries.

“Since 1993, PAS has delivered solutions that help industrial organizations improve process safety and profitability,” said PAS Founder and CEO Eddie Habibi. “As cyber risk in the industrial sector has grown, we have remained true to our mission by expanding our capabilities to further protect operational technology (OT) and have been recognized as a leading cyber asset management company. Now, PAS and Hexagon together will be a powerhouse solution provider for managing the entire industrial lifecycle.”

“Hexagon is committed to a mission of empowering the autonomous future by putting data to work to boost efficiency, productivity, and quality across industrial, manufacturing, infrastructure, safety, and mobility applications,” said Hexagon PPM President Mattias Stenberg. “The strategic acquisition of PAS will expand our owner operator market presence and broaden our capabilities by extending Hexagon solutions to operational risk management and operational technology cybersecurity.”

“We have long admired Hexagon’s technology portfolio and team,” Habibi added. “There is strong technology and cultural fit across our two organizations, and we are excited to join forces with Hexagon to deliver more value to customers and empower the autonomous future.”

The acquisition represents a new cybersecurity-focused business segment within Hexagon’s PPM division, which will also provide opportunities with other Hexagon divisions. The process safety solutions brought to Hexagon from PAS will be integrated into the PPM owner operator line of business.

Completion of the transaction (closing) is subject to standard regulatory approvals.

Stifel Global Technology Group acted as exclusive financial advisor and Vinson & Elkins LLP provided legal representation to PAS Global in connection with this transaction.

And a few comments from the Hexagon press release:

OT computing systems are critical to managing the performance of physical devices, machines and essential processes – from controlling temperatures to triggering emergency shut-offs. These historically stand-alone, closed systems are becoming increasingly connected in the face of IoT and digitalisation and therefore, more vulnerable to cyber manipulation and attacks. Building upon its commitment to helping industrial organisations improve production safety and reliability since its founding in 1993, PAS has, in recent years, expanded its expertise to helping customers identify and reduce OT cybersecurity risks, ensuring OT integrity from the sensor to the cloud.

“Combining PAS’ OT expertise with our PPM division’s digital twin and data integrity capabilities creates a powerful combination for industrial lifecycle management. Our customers can now manage the lifecycle from plant design and maintenance, to real-time situation awareness in the control room, cybersecurity risk management, and industrial digital transformation,” says Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén. “PAS’ highly skilled and experienced staff serve more than 500 customers across more than 1,450 sites and 70 countries, significantly expanding our owner operator footprint across the oil & gas, chemicals, power generation, mining and metals, and pulp and paper industries. Their highly complementary solutions provide expansion opportunities into verticals such as agricultural processing, water treatment, and renewables, as well as synergies with our Manufacturing Intelligence and Mining divisions.”

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA, PAS will operate as part of Hexagon’s PPM division. Completion of the transaction (closing) is subject to regulatory approvals. 2020 revenues are forecast to be around 34 MEUR.

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