Siemens Will Acquire Moore Products
The acquisition dramatically repositions Siemens in the process world. Although Siemens has long been a global power in industrial and building automation, it has been under-represented in process automation. Moore buttresses Siemens' existing Simatic PCS 7 process control products and provides a highly sophisticated product, Procidia, for smaller process companies.
More importantly, though, Moore gives Siemens a well-established US customer base and support infrastructure in the process world. Siemens now has a large, highly trained organization to support its penetration of US process markets.
Siemens Automation
Although Siemens Energy & Automation (SEA) is well established in industrial automation, its process business constitutes a small part of the whole. The company operates three divisions and one subsidiary:
- Distribution Products. A manufacturer of electrical current control and distribution equipment for factories and buildings.
- Industrial Products. It makes motors, drives, pumps, controls, and other automation products and software for OEMs, distributors, and manufacturing facilities.
- Industrial Systems. It provides turnkey solutions automation solutions for metal, paper, mining, and process companies.
- Siemens Westinghouse Technical Services. A nationwide network of field personnel for product maintenance, repair, and installation.
Siemens does not do many turnkey process control systems in the United States. It does, however, have a powerful offering in its Simatic PCS 7 process control system. Siemens' approach has been to embrace total integration from the system's S7 programmable logic controllers (PLCs) through its control system and human-machine interface (HMI).
All system components, from PLCs on up, share a common architecture. They share uniform data management, communication, and software configuration and programming. This allows companies to use a variety of different technologies within a single facility (or group of facilities), while easily integrating all units and processes into a single user interface.
Moore
Founded in 1940, Moore (which operates under the name Moore Process Automation Solutions) has been in the process measurement and control business from the beginning. It employs about 1200 people worldwide and had revenues of $168 million in 1998.
The company is a major player in the chemical, hydrocarbon, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, power generation, and pulp and paper industries. The company's key offering has been its APACS+ process automation system. Operating on a Windows NT platform, it integrates both PLC and distributed control system (DCS) technology in an open system. APACS+ provides both continuous and batch automation control.
At last year's ChemShow '99, the company introduced its Procidia hybrid controller. Although it offers low-cost DCS performance, it delivers out-of-the-box functionality (with a self-configuring HMI) and economical control of 50-200 mixed digital and analog I/O's. What really sets it apart, however, is its embedded Internet connectivity, which allows for rapid plug-and-play deployment and easy access by any engineer with a computer, modem, and proper security clearance.
The Agreement
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Siemens will make offer to pay $54.71/share for all of Moore's outstanding common stock and $21.88 for all of its preferred stock, starting January 21, 2000. The common stock price represents a 118% premium over the closing price of Moore shares on November 19, 1999, just before Moore announced plans to explore strategic alternatives for its business. It is a 28% premium over the closing price of Moore shares on Friday, January 14, 2000.
Moore's board of directors unanimously approved the offer. Members of the Moore family, whose holdings account for 55% of Moore's total voting power, have signed a definitive agreement to tender their shares to Siemens Energy & Automation.
For more information: Daniel Duncan, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Marketing Manager, Industrial Solutions and Software Div. Siemens Energy & Automation Inc., 5300 Triangle Pkwy., Norcross, GA 30092. Tel: 770-871-3919. Fax: 770-871-3999.
By Alan S. Brown