Sullivan & Cromwell, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have advised on a series of transactions in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) sector, involving Hitachi Global Life Solutions, Johnson Controls International and Bosch with a combined value of USD8.1 billion.
Freshfields acted as the international and Japanese counsel for Hitachi, guiding the company through the sale of its 40% stake in Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning Holding (JCH) to German technology and services provider Bosch. This USD1.4 billion transaction is part of a larger restructuring in which Hitachi simultaneously acquires a significant portion of JCH’s business in Japan.
The Freshfields team is led by partners Noah Carr, Takeshi Nakao and Menachem Kaplan.
Simpson Thacher, on the other hand, advised Johnson Controls on its definitive agreement to sell its residential and light commercial HVAC business to Bosch. This sale includes the North America ducted business and the global residential joint venture with Hitachi, in which Johnson Controls holds a 60% stake. The total transaction is valued at USD8.1 billion, with Johnson Controls receiving around USD6.7 billion.
The Simpson Thacher team includes M&A partners Jakob Rendtorff, Alan Klein, Keegan Lopez in New York and Jonathan Stradling in Tokyo.
On the buyer’s side, Sullivan & Cromwell represented Bosch with a cross-jurisdictional team including corporate partners Carsten Berrar, Scott Crofton, Frank Aquila and Konstantin Technau.
Johnson Controls, known for its extensive portfolio of sustainable building solutions, is strategically divesting its HVAC business to Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services with 136 locations worldwide. Hitachi, renowned for its air conditioning solutions in regenerative medicine, is also repositioning itself through these transactions.
