Acquisitions
A long-term home for exceptional businesses
You have spent years building something exceptional. Choosing who will help to take your business to even greater heights is one of the most important decisions you will make.
IMI is a global leader in fluid and motion control, helping customers solve some of the world's most important industrial challenges through breakthrough engineering. We focus on markets underpinned by three long-term megatrends: Energy, Automation and Healthcare.
We acquire specialist businesses because we believe they can achieve even more as part of our global engineering group. We invest for the long term, building on what makes each business successful and combining complementary expertise to accelerate long-term growth.
Why IMI
We’re engineers, not financiers.
Long-term ownership
IMI is not a financial buyer. We don’t acquire businesses to restructure them and sell them on. When we bring a business into IMI, we invest in it for the long term through engineering resources, commercial reach, and the operational discipline that supports sustained growth.
Engineering credibility
We buy businesses we understand. The people evaluating your business, and the people who will own it afterwards, genuinely understand your customers, your market, and your technology. That’s not true of every buyer.
Not a conglomerate
We are not a holding company managing a portfolio at arm’s length. IMI is a specialist engineering business which means that together, every acquisition can create more value than either business could alone.
Where we invest
We acquire specialist engineering businesses that complement our existing capabilities and strengthen our ability to solve our customers' most important challenges across Energy, Automation and Healthcare – three global megatrends that will drive sustainable growth for decades to come. Together, we're helping customers solve increasingly complex challenges while creating new opportunities for growth.
We're looking for specialist engineering businesses with strong customer relationships, differentiated technologies and long-term growth potential. In particular, we're interested in businesses that bring adjacent technologies and capabilities that build on our existing strengths, or offer attractive aftermarket and recurring revenue opportunities. By combining our expertise, we can reach more customers, unlock new opportunities and create more value than either business could alone.
How we grow together
Our approach
The same team, from first conversation to long-term growth.
At IMI, acquisitions are led by our business leaders. The leaders who identify and champion an acquisition are the same people responsible for helping your business to grow afterwards.
We know your customers and market, understand your technology and are invested in your long-term success. That continuity means decisions are made by people focused on building the business over the long term, not simply completing a transaction.
What we bring
From day one, you gain access to something bigger.
Acquired businesses enter a commercial network built over decades. Customer relationships, distribution channels, and engineering resources & expertise that would take years, sometimes decades, to develop independently become available to your team immediately.
Global customer relationships
IMI has established relationships across the Energy, Automation and Healthcare industries globally. Acquired businesses gain immediate access to those relationships, opening markets and applications that are difficult to reach independently.
Commercial acceleration
Your technology, applied across IMI’s existing customer base. In many cases, the most significant post-acquisition revenue opportunity is selling into relationships that predated the deal, not building new ones from scratch.
Aftermarket development
If your business has an installed base, IMI knows how to develop it. Investing in the service and support infrastructure that converts a product sale into a long-term customer relationship making your business more resilient and more valuable over time.
Investment in innovation
Innovation thrives when great ideas meet the right expertise, customers and investment. Through IMI's Market-Led Innovation approach and Growth Hub methodology, acquired businesses gain access to the people, processes and global networks that help turn ideas into scalable commercial success.
5
Global sectors with deep engineering expertise
50 +
countries available to every business in the IMI group from day one.
160 yrs
IMI has been building, acquiring and owning engineering businesses since 1862
Your people
The success of every business depends on its people. We know that when you choose a new owner, you're also choosing a future for the colleagues who have helped to build your business.
At IMI, your team becomes part of a global engineering community of more than 10,000 colleagues across 50 countries. We win together as One IMI, and that means investing in every person across it - your team becomes part of that from day one.
Alongside exciting new opportunities to work across our businesses, markets and technologies, your people gain access to industry-leading learning and development, leadership programmes, technical communities, cross-sector collaboration and international career opportunities.
Our aim is simple: to preserve the strengths that have made your business successful, while giving your people the support, opportunities and global platform to achieve even more.
Our approach to deals
Relationship-led
Acquisitions at IMI are originated and led by the people who know the market – our business leadership teams.
Early conversation
Most acquisitions begin with a relationship. Our leadership teams are active in their markets and often know businesses years before a transaction becomes relevant.
Understanding your business
We take time to understand what makes your business valuable: the technology, the customers, the people. Our evaluation is led by engineers and industry specialists, not generalist advisers.
A decision you can trust
Decisions are made by IMI people with the authority to make them. We don’t have layers of committee approval that slow down or dilute the conversation.
A long-term commitment
When we complete an acquisition, we are committed to the long term. The same people who led the deal are accountable for helping it to grow and thrive.
Get in touch
If you’re thinking about the future of your business, we’d like to hear from you. We’re always interested in talking to owners of businesses who are considering their options. Conversations are confidential, and there’s no commitment involved.
Explore more
What we do
The demand for smarter, safer and more sustainable engineering is growing, creating significant opportunities for IMI to lead. Our expertise in flow and motion control positions us to help customers meet rising challenges, unlock efficiencies and deliver lasting impact across a wide range of industries and markets.
Leadership
Our Executive Committee and Board of Directors work together to ensure strong governance and performance. The Board draws on the diverse expertise of its members, while the Committee oversees progress, manages key risks, and develops strategic and operational proposals for the Board’s consideration.