(Bloomberg) -- Odyssey Investment Partners is in advanced talks to acquire Honeywell International Inc.’s personal protective equipment unit, people familiar with the matter said.
The private equity firm is putting the finishing touches on a deal that could be announced in the coming weeks, according to the people. The acquisition could value Honeywell’s PPE unit at about $1.5 billion, they said.
Deliberations are ongoing and may still be delayed or falter, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Another buyer could also emerge, they said. Representatives for Honeywell and Odyssey declined to comment.
Bloomberg News reported in April that Charlotte, North Carolina-based Honeywell was working with an adviser to explore a potential sale of the PPE unit, which offers a range of products including respiratory protection, hearing aids, work boots and face masks.
While such products were in high demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, as governments and populations scrambled to contain the spread of the virus, demand has faded since the end of the crisis. Odyssey has exposure to the market through Protective Industrial Products, a company it agreed to buy from Audax Private Equity in 2020.
Vimal Kapur, Honeywell’s chief executive officer, has been stepping up efforts to realign the company’s portfolio to focus on aerospace, energy transition and automation systems for buildings and factories. This week, Honeywell announced it was planning to spin off its advanced materials business, which it expects to generate as much as $3.9 billion in revenue in the 2024 fiscal year.
Shares in Honeywell rose 1.1% to $215.99 in New York on Friday, giving the company an market value of about $140 billion.
Honeywell has also been in buying mode over the last 12 months, striking deals for Carrier Global Corp.’s security unit for an enterprise value of about $5 billion and Air Products’s liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment business for $1.81 billion.
--With assistance from Crystal Tse and Matthew Monks.
(Updates with closing share price in penultimate paragraph.)
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