Xylem Acquires Smart Meter Provider Sensus

Aug. 15, 2016

2 min read

Xylem39s Godwin Pumps transfer 17 billion gallons of water to help construction of a new series of locks at the Panama Canal earlier this year — Xylem's Godwin Pumps transfer 1.7 billion gallons of water to help construction of a new series of locks at the Panama Canal earlier this year.

Global water technology company and international pump rental specialist Xylem Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sensus, a leading provider of smart meters, network technologies, and advanced data analytics services for the water, electric and gas industries. The company, owned by investment funds affiliated with The Jordan Company and GS Capital Partners 2000, has more than 80 million metering devices installed globally and its FlexNet communications network technology uses licensed spectrum in the United States and other countries and provides secure connectivity solutions supporting multiple applications.

Sensus generated $837 million in adjusted revenue and $159 million in adjusted EBITDA in fiscal 2016, which ended March 31. The $1.7 billion cash purchase is 10.7 times Sensus’ fiscal year 2016 adjusted EBITDA. Xylem expects to achieve at least $50 million in annual cost synergies to be substantially realized within three years of closing as Xylem extends its global procurement and continuous improvement initiatives into the business with significant additional revenue synergy potential.

“With Sensus, we will acquire a strategically valuable asset that will accelerate our ability to bring systems intelligence solutions to customers across the water and energy industries, establish a foundation for future growth and create significant shareholder value,” said Patrick Decker, Xylem president and CEO. “This will be an important milestone in our strategy to move Xylem’s portfolio of solutions up the technology curve. The combination of Xylem’s world-class brands and products with Sensus’ leading edge smart technologies will create a differentiated offering that will better meet our customers’ evolving needs, including greater energy efficiency, water conservation and improved life-cycle costs. Sensus has a very broad product portfolio in metering and is well-positioned in the advanced metering infrastructure segment.”

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.